Michelle DeRusha

Every Day Faith. Faith Every Day.

50 Women Every Christian Should Know

No Doesn’t Necessarily Mean a Closed Door

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Friends, before I get to today’s blog post…I just want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who rallied behind me after Tuesday’s post. In two days, 53 new subscribers came on board – and that more than makes up for the 47 subscribers who decided to part ways after last week’s post about same-sex marriage. I am just astounded by your generosity and your encouragement. Believe me when I say this: it’s NOT about the numbers. I really feel like we have cemented a relationship and a partnership here over the last few days, and for that I am so, so grateful. And to those of you who have been reading here a long time (or even a short time) and have stayed on even though we might disagree on this issue (or others), thank you. Differences can be bridged by community. Thank you for demonstrating how it’s done. With love, Michelle

 

Grass Path Prairie edited

I’ve been snapping photographs of paths lately—paths across bridges, paths through the Nebraska tall grass, paths disappearing into the woods. I think I’m drawn to collecting these images because I’m so unsure of my own way right now. Documenting the paths I walk daily near my home is a practice that offers reassurance and comfort. These pictures remind me that my path exists, even though I can’t see it right now.

This past October my publisher turned down my proposal for my next book, a rejection that felt a lot like being fired. After I hung up the phone with my agent, who had relayed the bad news, I sat at my computer with my fingers on the keyboard. I figured being fired by my publisher was a clear sign that I should update my resume—no time like the present, right? But I couldn’t. Instead I collapsed on the living room couch and cried for two hours straight. I wore sunglasses to hide my red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes when I picked my kids up from school later that afternoon.

…I’m over at The High Calling this week, writing a post for the series “In Over Your Head.” Will you join me over there for the rest of this story? 

A FREE 50 Women Study Guide for You

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After I released 50 Women Every Christian Should Know, I received several inquiries via email and social media from readers wondering if there was a study guide to go along with the book. Unfortunately there was not. However, after teaching a five-week women’s study class based on the book at my church last fall, I found myself equipped with enough material (and then some!) to create a five-session Study Guide to accompany the book. The talented staff at Baker Books designed a beautiful layout and copyedited the text for me, and voila, my first official Study Guide was born.

And the best news yet? It’s free and available for download right here!

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This five-session study guide is perfect for small groups, women’s ministry/adult education classes or even for the individual who wants to dig a little deeper in this book.

Included in this Study Guide: 

Five Complete Study Sessions  – Each week is focused on a particular theme and highlights several women in the book.

  • Session One: When “No” Opens the Way to a Bigger “Yes”
  • Session Two: Obedience Isn’t Always Convenient or Comfortable
  • Session Three: God Calls Us to Serve Right Where We Are
  • Session Four: God Uses Imperfect People
  • Session Five: Share Your Story

Conversation Starter Questions  – A selection of questions related to the session’s theme and aimed at encouraging conversation and input from each participant.

Discussion Questions and Bible Study – A selection of questions related to the women highlighted in that particular session, prompting discussion of what we can learn today, as well as a discussion of select Bible verses that support the session’s theme.

Closing Prayer – A prayer based on the week’s theme that can be read aloud at the close of each session.

I hope and pray that you will find the Study Guide useful, inspiring and informative as you explore these 50 heroines of the faith who have walked before us!

Click HERE to download the 50 Women Every Christian Should Know
E-Study Guide.

 

 Click here to purchase 50 Women Every Christian Should Know on Amazon.

If you are a church staff member and would like to purchase 50 Women Every Christian Should Know in bulk quantities at a 20 percent discount, click here.

Leaning into Fear {My Faith Heroine Series}

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Oh how I love this woman. I first met Kimberly Coyle three years ago (or has it been four?!) when we roomed together at the She Speaks conference in North Carolina. We called it She Freaks because we were both so unhinged over the idea of pitching our book proposals to agents and editors face-to-face for the first time. Right away Kimberly and I realized that we share the same wacky sense of humor, and we’ve been online and in-real-life friends ever since. Seriously, this girl can WRITE. AND she takes beautiful pictures. Multi-talented I tell you. Please put Kimberly at the top of your must- read list. She blogs here, and you can find her on Twitter and Facebook, too.

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Story by Kimberly Coyle

I don’t remember exactly when she stepped into my life, but when I opened the first page of her book Walking on Water, it was as if I opened the front door to my heart and she walked right in. She took a seat in the loneliest corner, and she hasn’t left me since.

I know little about her faith practices—the small ways she served God or her daily acts of faith or her prayer life. I know only what she chose to reveal through the pages of her books, but I do know this: she kept asking the hard questions around art and faith, and she learned to lean into fear when she didn’t have all the answers.

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Madeleine L’Engle came to me in a time when I needed her most, when I could not reconcile my desire to write my way through life, with my desire to serve God as well. In my mind, art and faith diverged like those two roads in Robert Frost’s yellow wood, and I couldn’t understand how to serve one without cutting off the entrance to the other.

Madeleine was the first to tell me that the creation of art is an act of faith. That in art, there is no difference between the secular and the sacred—there is only true art, and all true art is incarnational in nature. She showed me through her words and through the example of her life, how holy it is to pursue the very thing I feel created to do. Where I felt myself splitting in two between my desires, her words became the healing salve that knit the two halves of me back together.

Her fierce intelligence, her way with words, her ability to serve God and her family, and  her art pulse out to me from her books like a beacon of light. They shine in the dark when I question my ability to keep putting one word in front of the other. When I question my faith. When I question my place in this world and wonder if I will come out on the other side of all these questions with an answer. Her words flicker with hope, with a desire for excellence, and with the insistent message to lean into the fear, for it is there we find courage.

Madeleine is gone now, but her words still sit in that same corner of my heart, and I no longer feel alone. Her books continue to give light, her courage strengthens, her resilience and intelligence inspire, and her deep faith in a Creator God who also calls me to create, guides me home.

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KimberlyCoyle3Kimberly Coyle is a writer, mother, and gypsy at heart. She tells stories of everyday life while raising a family and her faith at her blog, kimberlyanncoyle.com. She writes from the suburbs of New Jersey, where she is learning how to put down roots that stretch further than the nearest airport. Connect with her on Twitter @KimberlyACoyle or her Facebook page.

This post is part of the My Faith Heroine Series in conjunction with the release of 50 Women Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Heroines of the Faith. Click here to read other posts in the #MyFaithHeroine series. 

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When Your Life Feels Small and Ordinary

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Therese of Liseux

The sun hangs low, bathing the path and the tall grass golden. A rare stillness drapes the rolling land, interrupted by a single bird call, an unfamiliar one. I crane for a glimpse of feathers amid burnished leaves as my dog strains the leash taut.

I am walking the dog, something I’ve done nearly every evening since we adopted her last February. Tumultuous downpour, sub-zero temperatures, searing Nebraska heat – the weather makes no matter. After the dinner dishes are stacked in the dishwasher and the counters are wiped clean, I slip on my shoes, grab the purple leash from the hook by the back door and call for Josie.

I thought I’d dread walking the dog. As we considered the pros and cons of dog ownership, “walking” ranked right up there with cleaning up the yard and clipping the toenails of four paws. I never expected my daily dog walk would become one of my most cherished spiritual disciples.

…I’m over at Micha Boyett’s today (Do you know Micha? You need to. And her book, Found: A Story of Questions, Grace & Everyday Prayer? A must-read. So beautifully written, I read it twice-through). Join me over there? 

How to Offer Grace in a Homeless World

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I met Jim as he was trudging up the hill on South Street, a black trash bag slung over one shoulder. He stopped me as I jogged past and asked if there was a Laundromat close by.

“I’m homeless. This is all I own and I’ve got to wash it,” he said, dropping his trash bag onto the sidewalk, where it puddled at our feet.

He introduced himself. We shook hands beneath the elm tree.

A pastor at a church downtown had given Jim five dollars to do his laundry. “But not until he’d made me tell him my life story, and I mean my whole life story,” Jim added, shaking his head. “I’m not doing that again.”

I knew why that pastor had asked for Jim’s life story before he handed over the five dollars, because it’s what I’d been thinking, too. I wanted to know Jim’s story, not only because I was curious, but also because I, too, was leery of being duped. I wanted to make sure Jim was legit, that he deserved my handout and wasn’t some con artist or addict looking for a quick buck.

Part of me, a big part of me, wanted to be sure Jim was worthy of my grace…

…I’m over at the lovely Emily Wierenga’s place today (have you read Emily’s memoir, Atlas Girl? Five stars, people, five stars!). Will you join me over there for the rest of this story?