I hope to God in 10 years I disagree with some of my blog. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't love being wrong. So why would I want to be wrong now? Simple. If in 10 years I agree with everything I've said at 34 years of age, that will mean I've learned nothing, grown little, and have closed my mind and heart to being pliable. If I had a blog in my twenties, and thank God I didn't because … [Read more...]

It's been quiet around here lately. My mind full but my heart empty. I write close and soul deep and sometimes my bone marrow dries, the stuff where words settle in and gush onto the page with each pump of my heart. So I went to Jumping Tandem with weariness in my bones. With the ache of the overtired. A bit frustrated at the grace I'm trying to walk around in and sometimes find myself … [Read more...]

Writing lends itself to a process. There are stages and maturation of story that mimic the seasons of pregnancy and birth An idea implanting, as it germinates somewhere deep inside you. Hardly even aware of its presence and the role it will have in the rest of your life but it's forming and coming together. The rocky sway of sickness as it takes hold. The clutching of your sides and the tilt … [Read more...]

I had another post planned for today but then life happened. And I realized this is a huge part of the writer's struggle. Life. Because just as the post forms in your mind, the thoughts coming together and the words harmonizing seamlessly, you are called upon to wipe your toddler's butt and swoosh, the perfectly aligned sentence just got flushed. And then the chore of pulling out your laptop … [Read more...]

Sometimes it's uncomfortable to know they have read the very inner workings of your madness, your depravity, your grief. Sometimes your joy isn't yours alone but is shared with those who you've never even seen. And you wonder at it all. Where a click of a mouse can mean your life spread open. You want this, you've asked for it. Community, and being known, real and whole and true. And you wonder … [Read more...]

Sometimes I have too many thoughts in my head. Okay, most all of the time. I've looked into Myers Briggs Personality Types again as I've thought of dreams. I affirm the importance of knowing when you're in your element. In reading about all the types, I am beginning to see patterns where God has used me and directions where I feel He is leading me. I am an INFJ if you were dying wanted to … [Read more...]

  Give us your best 5 minutes on Dive He says there are those who create and those who copy. But aren't we all imitators in a way? Aren't we the composite of thoughts, experiences, and emotions. Aren't we all saying things that have been said a million times over, echoed throughout history and laid down in texts scratched on papyrus and stamped in clay. Don't we all have a common story? … [Read more...]

I had the gorgeous pleasure of writing live and sharing my post at open mic during Allume. My all time favorite group of gals was there writing along with me and I was honored to share the same space and writing wonder with them all. You guys, these women pour their hearts out in 5 minutes, without over thinking, without the pressure of editing, or backtracking, or rules. We just do what we love. … [Read more...]

The Giveaway winner is Paula @ http://www.averagehousewife.com/ Congratulations and I'll be contacting you soon. Before I read Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World, I had heard Bob Goff speak at our church. When I read his bio and saw that he is a lawyer and the Ugandan consul, I prepared myself for a somber hour with a lot of weighty subject matter and some … [Read more...]

The first step of any introduction is always the hardest. Ok, well maybe that's not always true because I have had some stellar awkward moments after the, "Hello, my name is Alia…," but usually it's true. To avoid awkward moments in my middle school years, and ok, I admit it, even more recently than that, I appear distracted. This is the key to not seeming alone in an unfamiliar group or … [Read more...]

I am leaving to go to a women's blogging conference today. Blissdom will commence Thursday, after 700 women of all different backgrounds, writing styles, blog niches, and outfits converge on Nashville,Tennessee. The twitter boards are alive and jumping with nervous anticipation and excitement. And fear. So much fear. Many of the women in my #Blissdomnewbies group have never been to a … [Read more...]

The awkward silence descends. Everyone fidgets and I begin to hear crickets in the background. The question volleyed into this space of women is "What is your element, how did God make you?"  No one wants to go first. For some it may be that they truly don't know. Don't see the worth buried in them, placed there by their maker. For others it may be the awkwardness of listing all your qualities … [Read more...]

I love Sir Ken Robinson, one of the great thinkers of our times, who talks frequently of creativity, education, and inspiration. Author to a book called  The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything , it speaks on harnessing our individual passions, pursuits, talents, and ambitions, and channeling them into our life's work. He also speaks with a charming British accent and I swear … [Read more...]

I'm idealistic. I am inspired. Unfortunately, I am NOT a good multi-tasker. I can do one thing well. What thing is that, you might ask? It's whatever I am most focused on at the time.  I can home school my children and teach them in ways that make their little minds open and swell and burst with information and excitement over things learnt and tried. I can disciple them and bury God's … [Read more...]

I love to check the boxes, fill in the little bubbles, circle the numbers or letters. I love to compile the answers and read the definition of who I am. You are an INFJ, an introvert, a melancholic sanguine, an emotional eater, an authoritative parent. Your spiritual gifts are discernment, teaching, exhortation, and you don't even register on the hospitality column. *I am working on this. … [Read more...]