Ok. Whew. Remain calm, Anna Joy. Deep, cleansing breaths. mmmmrrrrraaaaAAAGGGHHHH! I just can’t! I am SO excited to share these new shop items with you. Ahhhhh!! {panting} These beauties got finished up a few weeks ago, and then photographed by the lovely and talented…
Ask me what is the most difficult thing about winter, specifically winter in Michigan, and I will tell you – the end of daylight savings time. The days are already getting shorter as it is and then you go and “Fall Back” and all…
Eight months. That’s how long I’ve been the momma to a five-year-old boy, and ya know…I thought for sure I’d have everything figured out by now. {kidding} Recently, I’ve been mulling over some of the things about this new role I play and this…
Someone asked me the other day what my favorite worship song is. Blank stare. How could I possibly choose just one? Or even a top three? Or top ten? So instead, here are some good songs I’ve been digging lately. In no particular order. Oh,…
I was sitting in Mr. Jeske’s Bible class, second hour, freshman year of high school. My classmate Stephen came in and said that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center and that some thought it was a terrorist attack. I didn’t know…
I have jaw issues. We know this. In case you are someone who loves hearing all the gory details and the comprehensive medical history of others, or in case you are someone who also has jaw problems and wants to make sure you’re not…
Hoo boy, have I got a story for you… You might recall from a previous post that I have some jaw issues. If you want to know all the medical details about what’s wrong with my jaw and the history of how it got…
My dear friends… I am so happy to be writing this! It’s official – Consider Grace has reached its first birthday. Yippee! Throughout the last year, I have been surprised and affirmed over and over again with how well all of you have received…
Are your childhood memories like this? Most of the things I remember from growing up present themselves to me like the snippets in a montage at the beginning of a romantic comedy {or as my best friend so affectionately calls them, “rom coms”}. I…
There is a young girl at my church whose name is Alison. She is eleven years old, though small for her age, and she wears glasses that usually slide down her nose and dresses that splay out when she twirls. This girl has a…
I love this question. It is almost always asked out of a place of genuine interest, and it allows me an opportunity to verbally process the strange situation we’ve put ourselves in and to share what the Lord has been teaching me. When someone…
All week long, Dustin has been taking the songs I’ve written, breaking them down into individual instruments – drums, bass, piano, guitar, etc. – and building them back up into full songs. They really sound amazing. And today, I recorded the vocals over top…
If you ever come to Nashville and record an album, there are certain words and phrases you will need to be familiar with. So here are some helpful instructions. {Ahem} A Lesson on Nashville Lingo “Scratch Tracks” You make these first, usually with just…
Juxtaposynthesis. It’s a word my sculpture professor would use all the time, and I’m pretty sure he made it up. It’s when two things that seem opposite or unrelated come together in a really beautiful or inspiring or provocative way, and something good is…
I want you to try an experiment. Grab a suitcase with wheels, fill it up with clothes and toiletries and a couple of books and anything else you would take on a long trip. Now wake up one morning before the neighbors and the…
Hm…let’s see….what have I been up to lately? Re-organizing my crafts. Playing card games with Rod. Writing some songs. Watching Netflix. The usual. And, oh yeah. Adopting a child. {!} If you’ll remember, Jesus started moving my heart toward adoption at the…
Well, I finally did it. I’ve always wanted to write a gospel song {on the spectrum, think more toward Jennifer Holliday….and less toward The Gaither Vocal Band}, and today, I did! Even before The Shack came out, I had the tendency to personify the…
I frequently have these random thoughts that come to me that I want to share with you. However, many of them are not long enough to make an entire blog post out of. Here are some of the shorties. A quote that has been…
I mentioned in a previous post about an important trip I was going to take, and I promised to tell you more about it later. Well, here it is. On November 11th, I will be packing my bags and heading to Nashville, Tennessee for…
Last summer, I tried reading through the Bible in 90 days. I’ve never read through all of it in its entirety, and to be honest, 90 days is a bit less daunting for me to commit to than an entire year, which is a…
My grandpa’s name is Herman. {Well, really it’s Duane. His buddies randomly started calling him “Herman” in high school and it never stopped….but that’s beside my point.} He’s an artist. And not like I’m an “artist” who uses hot glue and acrylic paint in…
Early last week, I was feeling somewhat discouraged about Consider Grace. Even though I have gotten lots of Likes on Facebook recently, many of you have responded to my blog posts with comments (thank you!), and lots of people have generally just been asking…
I learned the. coolest. writing exercise tonight. And I truly think if you take 10 or 15 minutes to do it, you will have an amazing piece of writing when you are done. Really. And then, you will {hopefully} feel so proud of it,…
Did you know I’m in a band? Well, really it’s just a duo. And, to be fair, we don’t have any albums out, we’ve never released a song, we’ve never played a show (unless you count singing together in church, which I don’t). But…