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An Opportunity for Blessing

May 20, 2013 By Logan • 3 Comments

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Dear Allume family,

Today’s post is really more of an announcement for you to know, and also an invitation for you to sow into one of our own. I’m writing primarily to let you know of an organizational change that has been made within Allume. Because we want to honor you, our community, we felt that it was important to let you know rather than to just let you wonder or speculate. We also appreciate your prayers over our team and over the conference.

We would like to honor Jessica Heights and the role that she has played within Allume over the past 3 years. She is one of the 3 original co-founders of the conference, and as we all have come to know her more and love her over the years, it is widely recognized that she has been a smiling face and welcoming presence at each year’s conference. Many even say she has been Allume’s very own Miss Congeniality.

In order to focus more fully on personal matters outside of the conference, Jessica is moving away from her responsibilities and roles within Allume and the Conference. The hole she leaves is great, and we ask that you would join us in honoring her, praying for her, and encouraging her.

Please know that we love Jessica, and are all in agreement that this is best for her and for the conference. This is not something we expect the community to take lightly, and in order to honor Jessica, we would like to ask that as a community, we join together to speak blessing over her and not pry into her personal matters. Please be in prayer for us as we move forward as I’m sure you can know that she leaves quite a hole.

If you have been impacted by Jessica in any way over the years, we’d love to bless her with a slew of encouraging words and scriptures in the comments section below. Thanks friends for your love and support of Allume and your kind words over our sweet friend. We are so grateful for your contribution to this conference, the community, and most importantly to the Kingdom.

Loads of blessings on you each,
Logan and Sarah Mae

3 Comments • Filed Under: Uncategorized

on getting right again

May 17, 2013 By Kristina • 9 Comments

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I like to look good. Not in a fashionable sense, per se, but in an “I’m a good person sort of way.” My children have taught me that no matter how hard I try I will never have it all together, but that doesn’t keep me from trying. I’ve struggled with this for years and more recently found myself lying to cover up bad decisions I was making. Even though it was the furthest thing from my conscious mind I had allowed myself to become like the Pharisees in Matthew 23. I looked great on the outside, but inside, I was dying.

The choice to follow Jesus is not just the initial choice to admit, believe, and confess–it is also the daily, momentary choice to choose rightly. Not choose easy. Not choose convenience. Choose right. Choose truth. Choose life. No matter how many bad/wrong choices you’ve made you can always choose in this very moment to do what’s right.

From one girl who desperately needs Jesus to help her choose right in THIS moment to another here are a few things that help me forgo the easy and choose Jesus.

1) Wise Counsel - It is so important to have wise and Godly counsel on your side. These are the people with whom you can be completely honest and who you know will be completely honest back with you. In my life, I had gotten to a point where I was avoiding these people/didn’t want to tell them all the nitty gritty details because I knew they would call me out on it. If you find yourself isolating from the wise counsel in your life, I urge you to instead run to them. Share with them.

2) Make scripture easily accessible - this can be done by not only reading the Bible regularly, but also putting scripture where you will see it. For some of us that may mean sticking post-it notes throughout our houses. For others it may mean writing in a journal. I typed some pertinent scriptures out in the “notes” section of my iPhone, took a screenshot, and set it as my lock screen on my iPhone so every time I turn on the phone I see scripture.

3) Come clean - be honest. There was some nitty gritty truth I had to face. I had to tell close friends that yes, I had lied. I was a hypocrite. I put looking good above being honest and in doing so I brought shame, but you know what? The minute I said I was sorry, the moment I turned the other direction…forgiveness was there.

That’s the same for you, friend. This Allume community, we’re about real light living. That means that we forgive, we embrace, and most of all, we stay. We are here. However public or private your issues we are here and we are cheering you on in your deliverance.

Here is one of my all time favorite quotes via the wonderfully insightful, C. S. Lewis:

“I do not think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists of being put back on the right road. A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on. Evil can be undone, but it can not ‘develop’ into good. Time does not heal it.” –p. VIII, The Great Divorce

When you’ve had to say you’re sorry and turn around from a bad decision, what helped you? What steps did you take to get right again?

9 Comments • Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Unearthing

May 16, 2013 By Jennifer • 6 Comments

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They sit, these sisters, clasping tea in hands, telling me the story I know. The story of silence, the story of keeping it all hidden, pretending everything is okay.

They sit and share the wounds of the darkness, love muddled in attempt to keep things clean, organized, simple. The problem with pushing down truth is that truth cannot be hidden forever. And there is a cost to silence that is more bitter than the initial pain itself.

Repercussions to silence are felt in new ways–all for the fear of letting light shine.

Avoiding conversations about the tough stuff may mean avoiding the potential mess that occurs when hearts are spilled open, raw. But avoidance–choosing silence–opens the door to believing lies, to making agreements about things that aren’t true.

Do you, friend, have a memory when you, as a child, tried to put together the pieces to a situation you didn’t fully understand? Do you feel the burden of silence, of things unspoken, of relationships strained?

We are made for relationship. We are made for community. We are made to share stories and let His light shine on the places of pain, of fear, of pride.

My friend leans forward. We must unearth truth, she says. We must unearth lies that need to be surrendered. We must unearth wounds pushed deep into hard, dark ground.

I squirm in my chair and my heart leaps with recognition. Yes, I understand this. This invitation to unearth–seeking to discover lies of my past–makes me both excited and afraid.

For I remember. I’ve been here before.

Unearthing creates turmoil in the dark places, underground. The roots have been established, wound their way through shadowless dark. Silence plants the message: deal with your burden on your own; figure it out; ignore it; time will make it all go away.

Over the years, the yearning for truth is squelched, pushed down, too far. And the darkness receives it, swallows it whole.

There the lies are nourished, fed by the years of handling the silence on our own. And there, the agreement is made: I don’t have a voice, I am alone, I need to figure this out by myself, the cries of my heart don’t matter, I am not good enough.

The silence makes its insidious crawl, pushing its way from the deep recesses where it is further watered and new sprouts shaped. It curls upward and winds it way along the surface of the ground, a vine snaking in shadow, away from the chance of life outside.

And that is when the unearthing must come. The vine must get pulled up by the roots because it prefers lurking in darkness and fears brightness of light.

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5) .

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Dear sisters, you are not meant to be silent. Your wounds are not invisible, forgotten, uncared for. Your voice, when you call His name, reaches to the heavens (Psalm 10:17). His love for you cannot be contained. The silent scars you bear are not invisible to Him, are not silent to Him, are not unnoticed by Him. He calls your name and cradles you close, knocking, asking if it is okay for Him to lift you up, to unearth the pain you bear (Luke 11:10). He promises to take that burden from you, carry it Himself, longing to remind you that He did it already, when He hung on a cross for you.

His voice called your name, breaking the silence of death with His death. His last cry to His Father was for you, as He chose, in His love for you, to suffer and die. He allowed His body to lay cold, in the earth, alone, so that you can be unearthed, dear one, and rise with Him.

Let the Father unearth you like He unearthed His Son. He redeems the darkness. He makes everything light.

^“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8:12).

As writers, as sisters, as daughters, as friends, we are called to bring light to darkness. We are called to give voice to truth and trust that He sets the captives–of silence–free.

6 Comments • Filed Under: Testimonies

Choose Your Words {The Stewardship of Language}

May 15, 2013 By Kris • 39 Comments

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I’d stepped inside for just a moment, just long enough to grab the pot of macaroni and cheese off of the stove–when I heard the shouting on the patio. Ugly words flying like fiery arrows across the iron table, wounds splitting in the fray.

A calm morning, schooling on the back porch had quickly turned into to a battlefield, as one of my children verbally attacked another over some school work. That’s when I came in on the fracas.

Stepping out the door, I heard him tearing at her, ripping her apart for her failure to do the work the way he thought it ought to be done. But instead of offering her help, and accepting her decision to decline his help, he went on the offense, attacking her as a person, tearing at her character, shouting her down–calling her names.

I grabbed his arm firm, and leaned in close enough–eye to eye. I hushed him, and sent him immediately in the house. His head hung and my heart beat wild in my chest.

His showing was hideous. But it hit me even harder that day because I’m still trying to get over another painful display of words that I witnessed, only that one wasn’t in my back yard–it was in my online neighborhood, and that’s still too close for comfort.

There’s something that happens online–in comment boxes, and on social media. I’ve seen it in blog posts and status updates, in 140 character tweets. Poor stewardship of words. You’ve seen it too. I’ve done it. It’s ugly and it hurts.

We justify our poor choice of language by claiming that we are merely “speaking the truth in love” but the truth is that, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. And so these careless words–supposedly spoken out of love, are revealed for their true identity.

It can be easy in this online world to forget that attached to that tiny, motionless avatar, is a real living person, with feelings and a soul. Maybe they know Jesus. Maybe they don’t. Maybe they don’t know your brand of Jesus. Maybe they don’t share your politics. And with every difference, we find it a little easier to vomit stones in their direction, while we attempt to cover the mess under the blanket of Christian love.

Sisters, God has given us the gift (and it is a gift) of language, and like all of our gifts, we are called to use them wisely–for His glory. We are called to good stewardship of our words:

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

1 Peter 4:10 NIV

I’ve watched the body cut and rip at each other, attacking motives and character, when someone disagrees with our point of view. I have my own opinions about how I think things ought to be, and sometimes, I don’t see eye to eye with you.

Sometimes, all I have are ugly, sinful, hurtful words, and so I have to click away. I confess. I repent, I grieve my own sinful attitudes…

Because I have to choose–love or hate.

We don’t have to tear at the very fiber of those we disagree with, just because we disagree with them.

There’s a difference between civil dialogue and character assassination thinly disguised as discussion. <–Tweet this

***

Inside, I cornered my child by the stove. With a hand on his shoulder, I repeated his hurtful words to him, I asked him how he thought they sounded. His tears spilled and I fought hard to hold my own back.

“Your need to be right and have things your way, doesn’t trump the need to show love to her”.

He won’t look at me, and I get it. Shame weighs a lot. We bow our heads together and I hold him. I’m thinking about his sister half torn on that patio and my online sister half shredded by the ugly words and accusations hurled in the name of ”love”.

Disagreement doesn’t come with permission to gnaw at the soul of another member of the body. We are called to be good stewards of our words.

As members of one body our speech ought to be loving and kind.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

“She’s your sister,” I told him. “You are to love her, to protect her, to build her up–not tear her down. If you cannot say something kind, walk away.”

What if we learned to walk away when we didn’t have anything nice to say? What if we set aside our need to be right, and have it our way, in order to better demonstrate love to others?

Maybe, we need to love not lecture.

Good stewardship of our language sometimes looks like holding our tongues.

Choosing our words carefully.

Extending some grace.

And asking for forgiveness when we’ve mishandles the gifts we’ve been given.

39 Comments • Filed Under: Writing

How to Handle the Social Media Egg Basket

May 14, 2013 By Gretchen Louise • 19 Comments

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Everyone knows it’s not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. But sometimes, I think we’re trying to carry too many baskets — especially when it comes to social media.

There’s always a new social media network. Something to try, something to learn. A new opportunity to get lots of followers and rise to the top of the crowd.

But sometimes, we spread ourselves too thin. In trying to be everywhere, we are nowhere. And the eggs break just as quickly when they hit the ground, whether we are carrying them all in one basket or spread out into more baskets than we can hold.

I love Twitter. Facebook is where my grandma is, so I’m not leaving it any time soon. Pinterest is pretty and easy to organize. And I know Google Plus is a necessary evil for bloggers.

But I forget to use Delicious. I tried Tumblr to see if it was a more social version of a bookmark and quote site, but I never remember to use it. Instagram is fun but without a smart phone it’s a three-step-process to a #latergram if I’m not at home with tablet in hand. And Digg? StumbleUpon? Never even used them.

Whenever I start forgetting to post to a social network, I know it’s lost the social aspect. And when I stop visiting anywhere but private Facebook groups, I know I’ve spread myself too thin.

It’s then I remember the tried and true advice of those with more followers than I: find a few social media networks you love, and become good at them. You and I are each only one person. Unless we have a team of bloggers working with us, or a good social media manager behind us, we can only do so much.

And it’s when I pull back and enjoy the process of just hanging out on my favorite social media networks that I actually see fruit from my time spent there. It’s when I view social media as a place to connect with my friends rather than an item on my to do list that the benefits can be seen — and in more than just numbers.

Tips

Choose one day a week to hang out on less popular social networks (for me it’s Google Plus and Tumblr). You don’t have to be on any given social media network every hour of every day to have a presence there.
Ask questions on Facebook. Get to know your followers there again.
Use scheduler apps like Buffer for Twitter and Facebook’s built-in schedule feature so that you can be there without being there all the time.
Use plugins like Tweetily (to Tweet old posts) and Jetpack’s “Publicize” (to Tweet new posts) to automate your blog’s presence on Twitter (just don’t spam your followers!) so that you don’t have to worry about your blog when you get on Twitter, you can just be you.
Don’t just Tweet and Retweet — remember how much fun it was to have conversations on Twitter?
Stay off Pinterest.com and just pin from the sites you visit to avoid the Pinterest time trap.

How do you keep a handle on your social media involvement?

Tweetables:

Sometimes, we spread ourselves too thin on social media. In trying to be everywhere, we are nowhere. (Click to Tweet)
Whenever I start forgetting to post to a social network, I know it’s lost the social aspect. (Click to Tweet)
How do you keep a handle on your social media involvement? (Click to Tweet)

Photo Credit: Kateri Fahey of Dandelion Haven

19 Comments • Filed Under: Bloom in Blogging, Community

a simple truth that can transform any relationship

May 13, 2013 By Lara • 20 Comments

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Don’t place your trust solely in him. Or her. Or them. Because they — like you and me — are mere humans. And do you know what humans do? We fail.

I read Jesus’ words last week and they struck a deep chord. He had just started His earthly ministry, performing signs and wonders. And after seeing the miracles, people believed in Him.

“But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” John 2:24-25

Do you hear what He’s saying? Yes, people put their trust in Him. I mean, He was turning water into top-shelf wine. But He didn’t put His trust in people. Why? Because He “knew all people…(and) knew what was in man.”

Never in the Bible does it say to put our trust in people. Never. Love people, yes. Forgive people, continually. Pray for people, always. But trust? Never. And it’s because people are people. We’re weak and selfish and prone to wander.

When we place our trust in people — depending on them to give us life and hope — we’ll inevitably fall to disappointment. That’s why Jesus didn’t put His trust in man. Not even His most beloved disciples. He put His trust solely in the Father.

His eyes were dead set on the will of the Father. His gaze was continually pointed to the Father. He didn’t look at humans in search of fulfillment with cheesy phrases like “you. complete. me.” No. Because He knew what was in man. And woman.

Personally, I put my hope and trust in men — eventually my husband –in search of security and meaningful love for far too long. And though God gifts us with earthly, blessed, necessary relationships, people can never completely fill us. People will fail us. Just like we’ll fail them.

So when it comes to trust, we’re supposed to put it in one place and one place alone. We put our trust in God.

Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.
Jeremiah 17:5-8

God is the forever faithful One. He’s the One who sees the beginning from the end and knows how to make every detail work out for the good of those who love Him. He’s the One who never ever leaves or forsakes His children. He alone is always trustworthy.

And here’s the beauty. When we put our trust in Him, rather than the people or circumstances in our physical world, it frees us to love others without expectation. It frees us to forgive and bless. Because we’re not depending on people to be our Source of life. We’re depending on the life-giver. And that, my friend, is true freedom.

How have you seen that passage from Jeremiah above play out in your own life? (i.e., trusting in things or people vs. trusting in God regardless)

20 Comments • Filed Under: Community, Encouragement, Life in Christ, Marriage, Motherhood

Why Motherhood Needs Sisterhood

May 11, 2013 By Teri Lynne • 29 Comments

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Dickens’ penned these words to begin my favorite of his works, A Tale of Two Cities. I’m finding this is an apt description of motherhood, though. In fact, there are days when all of this is true within an hour. {Can I get a witness?}

Motherhood feels like a full contact sport sometimes. This child of mine can bring me the greatest joy … but, as we’ve entered the teenage years full on, I have found myself in tears wondering how she could break my heart so easily. One of my wise friends told me a few months ago, “Don’t take it personally.” In my head, I know she’s right. But, y’all, no joke, it’s hard not to take it personally when your child hurts your feelings.

Having a thirteen-year-old girl has taught me a few things. But the biggest one is this:

Motherhood needs—demands—sisterhood.

More than ever I need women to come alongside me.

I need the 20-something woman with dreams in her heart and stars in her eyes.

She’s eager for life to get started, for that man who will sweep her off her feet, and the children who will fill her home with fun. I need her to remind me to laugh and enjoy these days.

I need the friend who has cried into her pillow and fallen into a heap on the bathroom floor, again, when the pregnancy test is negative.

She gives me this precious gift of looking at my child and seeing her as what she really is, a gift from God {Psalm 127:3}. And this friend, this one in the sisterhood, she also offers me the opportunity to love someone well, to reach out beyond my home and into the heart of someone else. I need this … because it’s far too easy to get wrapped up in car pools and dance recitals and how in the world we’ll pay for college.

I need the friend with the newborn, the one whose eyes are exhausted and who can’t put sentences together.

She is the one who lets me snuggle with her baby and whisper the promises of a God who is good and faithful into his sweet ears. I need this {really need this!} because even though my girl has a big helping of her momma’s sassiness, she’s still my baby and she still needs to hear that God is good and faithful, especially when middle school girl drama feels overwhelming.

I need those moms with little ones toddling about and learning to read.

I watch them watch their kids. And I need them to help me remember to celebrate the successes … whether it’s potty training or making cheerleader. I need this because there are days when all I see is a messy room.

I need those women who, like me, are wondering if there is enough hair color available to keep us looking somewhat decent through these teenage years.

These women in the sisterhood know the frustrations and fears, the way each day can go either way and you’re never really sure if the child that enters the room is going to be the happy child you thought you’d raised or this sullen stranger. Oh I need these women … because some days I start to believe I’m all alone and I’m really not.

I need those women who have raised their kids and lived to tell about it.

The ones who say, “Cherish these days, they’ll be gone before you know it.” The ones who remind me you never stop being a mom, your heart never stops breaking when your child hurts, and your smile never goes away when your child is happy. I’m so thankful for that part of the sisterhood!

And I need those women who love my girl.

The teachers and the coaches, the other moms and the older girls, the grandparents and the ones who could be, the single women who pour into her and the ones who tell her she is a world changer. I need them, all of them, because motherhood is too hard to go it alone.

I need the sisterhood. We all do.

So Happy Mother’s Day to the whole lot of you—the ones with babies and the ones with grandbabies, the ones who dream of babies and the ones who are living the dream, the ones who are hurting and the ones who are helping. You all make a difference and I’m a better mom because you are in my life!

Would you share in the comments how you’ve found the joy of sisterhood in mothering?

xo,

Teri Lynne

image source

29 Comments • Filed Under: Motherhood

4 {Great} Reasons YOU Should Write an eBook

May 10, 2013 By Trina Holden • 24 Comments

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Hi, I’m Trina and I’m a blogger who writes books.

My books have not gone viral nor made me famous. I’m not making a full-time income from my ebook earnings, nor have any publishers come calling. But I still love writing books, and I believe no matter how big (or small!) your blog, or what your vision for your writing is, you should consider self publishing an ebook.

Here’s why:

1. It’s a step toward bigger dreams.

A published book is the ‘Holy Grail’ for many writers. Whether self-pub or contracted, we long to see our name in the author line on a manuscript. Although I don’t believe for a minute that authorship is the ultimate proof that we are REAL writers, there are still many writers who believe that title as an important milestone in their journey, and they will—often subconsciously—put most of their efforts into reaching that point.

But what if you were past that goal? Then what would you feel free to pursue?

For years I saw publishing a book as the ultimate goal of my writing. Once I got that out of my system, I was able to expand my horizons with my writing, and also felt more freedom to ask God what His dreams for my writing were. (Novel idea, I know!)

If publishing even a small ebook helps you get past that mental block of “I have to write a book first” so you can pursue different or broader dreams with your writing, then go for it! If, on the other hand, my little confession helps you realize that a book has been getting in the way of your calling, then skip the book and go straight for your dreams!

2. People still prefer books.

If you had a series on your blog that I was really interested in, and you had gathered all 6 or 10 or 31 posts into a PDF I could download and read on my Kindle app, guess what I’d prefer? The file that has it all in one place.

As much as we all love reading blogs, there’s still something about a book that continues to draw us. Maybe it’s the fact that a book doesn’t ask us to comment or share or engage. Instead we ingest, meditate, and relax into the content, and any ‘call to action’ is hopefully something that calls us to engage more fully in life, instead of just social media.

If you have some great content on your blog, or some posts that you feel get to the heart of what God has called you to write about, consider doing your readers the service of organizing them into one place. Maybe it’s a fancy, shmancy ebook formatted for kindle, with a custom-designed cover. Or maybe it’s a simple PDF they can download for free. Either way, creating a book is a way to serve your readers well. (<–Tweet that!)

3. It’s a wise use of your time.

Let’s face it, blog posts have a very short life span. No matter how much work you put into that post, it’s going to eventually get bumped into your archives. You can try to resurrect it, but it’s still just a blog post that people are going to have to be willing to follow a link trail to read.

On the other hand, a book is not so easily lost. It can live right in your sidebar with a cute graphic, be shared regularly with other bloggers via reviews or giveaways, and be easily linked to in current posts. You can also get it formatted for print and have a tangible capsule of your words to share with friends and keep as a reminder to yourself of what God has taught you.

Putting our efforts into creating something more enduring than a blog post is a wise stewardship of our gifts and calling.

4. Makes great residual income.

I love things where you do the work once, but continue to reap the rewards: like taking the time to teach your children to do the laundry, or planting a perennial in the garden. The benefits keep coming after you’ve quit sweating!

This is what ebooks have been for me. Sure, they’re more work than a blog post. But once they’re finished, and you upload them to Amazon or Ejunkie, the work of creating is done. You may spend a season of time actively marketing your book (and that can feel like more work than the writing!), but eventually you will move on to other things, while the book stands on its own two feet, and people can continue to buy it.

My first book sold 2 copies the day I released it. I had such a small platform at the time and so few connections that whatever attempts I made to market it hardly made a ripple. Within a few months I had moved on to other projects. But the book was still there, and every once in a while, someone would buy a copy. For the first year, I only sold a few per month, but my little book sitting there in my sidebar saved me the trouble of having to find sponsorship for my blog in order to afford hosting fees. It continues to sell two years later, providing a blessed little residual income stream for our family.

Final Advice for Would-Be Authors:

If these points have got you brainstorming about what idea or content you can turn into an ebook, I’m excited for you! But my final word of advice is this: as with any project or dream you pursue, make sure the idea is actually in line with God’s desire for your writing. Writing an ebook is a lot of work, and not something to be embarked upon without prayer, counsel, and counting the cost. With that, I wish you well and look forward to seeing what God calls you to write in the future!

Tweetables:

4 {Great!} reasons YOU should write an ebook — Click to Tweet

Have you been chasing the Holy Grail of writers? – Click to Tweet

This has me thinking about writing an ebook! – Click to Tweet

You can read the full account of my first self-publishing journey in my series: The Smaller Blogger’s Step-by-Step Guide to DYI Publishing. You may also enjoy my husband’s techy tips for formatting a book for kindle and for print. P.S. My second ebook was released last month. Though it hasn’t gone viral, some of my friends think it’s pretty cool. *wink* Find it here.

Do you dream of writing a book? What’s holding you back? If you need feedback or encouragement for your dream, I’m your gal. Let’s brainstorm in the comments!

24 Comments • Filed Under: eBooks

Drumroll….The 2013 Agenda!

May 8, 2013 By Logan • 20 Comments

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Did you see it?! The 2013 Allume Agenda?!

Ok…if not, you must immediately click HERE to open the full 2013 Agenda in another window so that you can peruse it in just a minute!

But first, I just need you to know why I, for one, am doing the happy dance!

It’d take me 45 minutes talking fast to cast the whole vision (and you’ll get some of that at Allume in the flesh) but for now, just know that God has been working in a chill-bumps-inducing way over the past several months.

A few months ago, the Lord gave me a picture of an underground river. It was bubbling and moving forward…yet, it was underground. And then suddenly the river came into the open. It broke through rock and earth and spilt forth…moving fast and branching off to cover all over the earth. And then I saw a bright light…and it was a line that was just positioned at the cross-section where the river left the underground and came into the light of day…and the Lord said…”this space, this place where the bubbling bursts forth into the earth…this is Allume.”

Every time I recount the picture and the words… I cry. God is moving friends. He’s moving in each of you now, and he’s moving in what he’s planning to accomplish at Allume. And when we all collide together in the same time and space, the work that He is doing, and the work that He will release is like a mighty rushing river of Kingdom awesomeness. It makes me excited. It gives me chills.

I’m excited about the things you see in the agenda listed with times and dates and titles, but the thing I’m most excited to see is what God does in the in betweens too. I’m excited to see the way he weaves the words of the keynotes, and teaches and inspires you with session speakers. I’m elated to watch you all connect and love one another in that special way that it happens at Allume. I’m blessed to have not just reached out to compile a list of speakers, but to have been building relationships with these Kingdom of Heaven World Changers, and I can tell you with every bone in my being, that the words the Lord gave to Sarah Mae, Jessica, and I back in November are coming to fruition.

”Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert…for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” – Isaiah 43:19-21

Our dear friend, Ann Voskamp, will bring a fresh word, as only she can, and open our hearts on opening night. Melanie Shankle will make us laugh til we cry, and cry til we laugh just before Jennie Allen moves us with truth and life and reminds us how ‘faith is the is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Bianca will arrest us with passion, and Jeff will move us to live bigger and more authentically than we’d ever dreamed.

Our incredible sponsors will pour into you and help show ways that you too can pour out.

Our hope and prayer is that your time at Allume will equip you, empower you, refresh and refuel you, so that you can leave and walk taller into the callings that God has for you (and for your blog.)

We invite you to come spend time with us for a weekend of life, and friendship, community, and awakening. We can’t wait to see what God has in store for us all!

So now, if you haven’t yet looked at the whole incredible lineup yet, go….HERE!

And if you still need to snag your ticket, go HERE!

All our love,

Logan, Sarah Mae, and Jessica

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20 Comments • Filed Under: Community, Conference, Uncategorized

How to write something meaningful

May 8, 2013 By Erika Dawson • 19 Comments

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I want to write.
I want to write something.
I want to write something meaningful.
Something meaningful.

In a world with so much noise and chatter, I want to write words that make a difference. I want to write words that matter.

I want to write words of truth and joy and life,
words that inspire, equip, and encourage.

I want to write words that lead to the Word.

But sometimes, the effort of creating concepts and writing words — and then showing and sharing and soliciting help — wrings me out and wears me through!

I work hard and steal away moments: I push and I push and I push,
only to come up dry. empty. flat.

Sometimes I’m pushing so hard to write something meaningful, I fail to live a meaningful life.

Friend, some of us need the encouragement to start — to finally be disciplined, diligent, and direct.

But some of us? Some of us need the courage to pause — to remember that we don’t have words to write if we don’t have a life to live.

Some of us need to be nudged out of our routines and off of our plans — we need to close our eyes and breathe deep, throw our heads back and laugh.

We need to seek wonder, see beauty, spontaneously move.

Sometimes, we need to be reminded to take. a. break.

If we want to write words that bring life, we must bring life to our words.

So the next time you want to sit down to write, make sure you’ve first stood up to live.

Learning with you,

e.

19 Comments • Filed Under: Writing

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