Writing Opportunities at Civitas Press

As you may know, last October I published a book of essays about depression with Civitas Press called Not Alone. I also had a piece in the first Civitas community project, The Practice of Love. I'm thankful, both as a reader and a writer, for the good work that is going on over at Civitas.

I wanted to let you know about a few other projects that they have in the pipe right now.

My friend Tamara Lunardo is still accepting submissions for her book, What a Woman is Worth. This book is a collection of stories about the value of women in the Church and in society. Tamara is specifically looking for submissions from women of color (edit: Tamara said that she's really looking for women outside of the white, straight, middle-class American Christian upbringing). Based on the blog carnival that she hosted, I have no doubt that this is going to be a powerful book and I can't wait to read these stories.

Jeremy Myers, who contributed a story to Not Alone, is compiling a book of stories about involvement in the church called Finding Church. He is looking for submissions in four categories: 1) Leaving Church, 2) Returning to Church, 3) Reforming Church, and 4) Changing Church. I absolutely love this idea and I'm excited to see how these stories work together to give different perspectives about the Church. The submission deadline for this is April 30.

And finally, I am still accepting submissions for my project with Civitas, Not Afraid. In this, I'm looking for stories about overcoming fear and finding a sense of significance in the process. I've extended the submission date to March 16th. Most of us have had to face fear at some point and when we do, we overcome through love - loving ourselves, loving the other person, loving God. If you have a story about beating fear, please consider sharing it.

Getting to see your name in a publication can be an exciting thing and I'm thankful for the community projects at Civitas that give folks a chance to get a foot into the publishing world. I know that a lot of you are writers as well, so I encourage you to check out these opportunities!

What If...

What if...

     ...you auditioned for that play?

     ...you made the first move in pursuing friendship?

     ...you took a pottery class?

What if...

     ...you sang out loud the song that's in your heart?

     ...you let the words in your head bleed all over the page?

     ...you danced with your whole body?

What if...

     ...you spoke up when you saw injustice?

     ...you celebrated small victories?

     ...you questioned the status quo?

What if...

     ...you forgave more?

     ...you laughed more?

     ...you believed more?

What would you learn about yourself? How would your life change?

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If you've overcome the objections, the worries, the fears about a "what if..." moment, I invite you to share your story in the upcoming Not Afraid: Finding Stories of Significance book that I'm compiling with Civitas Press. I am accepting submissions through January 31, and I would love to read how you overcame fear and what it taught you about yourself. 

Results Not Typical

Last night I was watching some Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network. I tend to do most of my television viewing online, so I rarely see many commercials. Which is why I missed the one for InventHelp until last night.

The commercial talks about a guy who invented a water toy that he pitched to Wham-o with the aid of InventHelp. He's now a big successful inventor. But the part of the commercial that really grabbed me was at the 20 second mark.



Did you catch that?

"Bill's experience is not typical and most inventions are not successful."

I admit, I went back and listened to it again because I was sure that I hadn't heard that correctly.

Like everyone, I'm used to hearing disclaimers at the end of a commercial uttered at break-neck speed or watching them scroll across the bottom of the screen in barely legible type. "Results not typical" is a pretty common phrase in advertising.

But I don't know that I've ever heard an advertisement come right out in a normal, personable voice and say that the consumer probably won't be successful.

Unfortunately, many of us live by that ideology regularly.

No use to start that exercise routine, I probably won't be able to follow through with it.


No use writing my novel, it probably won't get published.


No use learning an instrument, I probably won't be any good at it.


No use pursuing that friendship, they'll probably reject me.


No use going back to school, I'm stuck in this job no matter what.

This week my daughter was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by her eighth grade classmates. I (of course) tweeted my pride in this accomplishment and my friend Katie posted this:

That is a powerful statement. I think we need to be willing to apply this to one another and also to ourselves. We need to kick the "no use" comments to the curb.

No, maybe we won't be hard-bodies or sign a 5 book deal or become a multi-millionaire, but we can be more fit or leave a story for our families to read or learn something new. We can expand our view of what it is to be successful. We can recognize the greatness in one another.

And I would say that when we do that, our results will not be typical.

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How can you help recognize the greatness in someone else today? What "no use" idea do you need to jettison?

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If you have a story about overcoming fear, you can submit it to the Not Afraid project that I am compiling. Check out this link for more information and to download the project document.

Forget to Freak Out

Two summers ago, we went on vacation to North Carolina with my extended family and while we were there, we visited Chimney Rock. It's a beautiful location and everyone was looking forward to it.

Except for my oldest son.

He has a sometimes crippling fear of heights. Even with clear boundaries that he knows will protect him from a fall, he will often keep his distance. When he was younger, even minor elevations could cause him to start shaking. So the thought of climbing to the summit of Chimney Rock at 2480 feet was downright terrifying.

But his sisters and his cousin and his dad and his grandfather and his aunt and his uncle were all making the climb and he wanted to be with them. And they all wanted him to be a part of the experience as well. So he made the choice to ignore his fears and climb to the top.

Later, when he was recalling his climb, he would tell us (and anyone else who would listen), "I forgot to freak out!"

His eyes were so focused on the goal that he forgot to be afraid.

We are currently accepting submissions for Not Afraid: Stories of Finding Significance and I would be thrilled if you would consider adding your voice to this project.

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Have you ever experienced a moment when you realized that you were so engrossed in what you were doing, you forgot that you were supposed to be afraid? 

The Distance Between

I was the girl who was everybody's friend. I was funny and nice and smart and loud and weird. I played the saxophone in band, the piano in chorus, and the hussy in school musicals, but in real life, I was completely chaste. I'd like to say it was because of my strong moral fiber, but mostly it was because there weren't any inquiries. It was easy to maintain my virginity when no one was interested in procuring it.

Most of the time I could convince myself that it didn't matter. I embraced my weirdness. I did things that would insure that I would still have friends, but that any lack of interest in me wasn't because I wasn't pretty or desirable, but instead because I was just too much for a regular high school boy. I joked with the boy I liked at the cast party, but I went home and cried after because he confided that he wanted to date my friend, not me.

I wasn't exactly rejected...I just wasn't pursued.


The distance between 16 and 30 is almost indistinguishable sometimes.

I was sitting in a living room with two people who had told me that they loved me. They had told me that they supported me. They had told me that they wanted me to be a part of what they were doing.

But when I showed a little bit of who I was and people in their congregation were frightened by that, these people reneged on everything.

Oh, they didn't say that. They didn't kick me out of the church. They still said that they loved me and that they supported me. I just wasn't submissive enough. I wasn't embracing the vision of the church. I was just a little too different, too loud, too weird. I could go to church there, but I couldn't do the one thing that I was created to do. That was for other people, not for me.

I wasn't exactly rejected...I just wasn't pursued.

These stories are not the full measure of me. I have been pursued. By a faithful husband. By an unfailing God. By people who refuse to allow me to be counted strictly by what I can provide for them, but rather for who I am. I cling to these relationships because they allow me to know that my value is far greater than what I can see on my own. But the pain of lack of pursuit still gnaws at me.

The distance between being ignored and being rejected is almost indistinguishable sometimes.

Not Afraid Book Project

I'm the worst finisher ever.

I cannot tell you how many projects I've started and not seen through to the end, but it's a lot. When I was contacted about turning the Not Alone series into a book, I hesitated. It just seemed so big. Even though I was just in as the editor, it still struck me as an opportunity to fail. Or worse, an opportunity to succeed and have that taken away or undermined. Despite believing deeply in the importance of the project, I was sure that I was ill-equipped to head it up and my initial response was to give it a pass.

Fortunately, my husband pointed out just how often this has been my response. And with all of the love and honesty that I have come to expect over the years, he told me to stop being a baby and do the damn book. (No, he was way more awesome than that. But he was definitely not letting me out of doing it, no matter how much I cried about how scary it was. And oh how I cried.) So I took a call with Jonathan Brink and said yes, I'd like to do it. And here in just a few weeks, the stories of these brave writers are going to have a chance to make a difference in lives.

It took that moment of staring fear down and saying that it wasn't running the show. Encouragement from others is essential, but it doesn't do the work for you. At some point, I had to just say that my idea was good, that I had the tools organize it, and relationships with people who were talented and committed to this project. At no point did I have to do it alone, but I had to do it. Fear was not an option.

And I found that as I faced down my fears, I was left with a greater sense of self. I discovered what I was capable of doing. I saw that people didn't scoff my dreams, but were instead supportive. And in the midst of all of that, I found that I could believe that I had significance.

When we live in fear, we cannot see our value. But fear and love cannot coexist, so as we break down our fears, we are free to give and receive love. Love from those around us, and love from God. In this we find our value. In this we find our significance. As I continue to find this for myself, I want more and more to hear other stories shared about this topic.

I'm so happy to tell you today that I'm partnering once again with Jonathan and Civitas Press to work on a new collection of stories. This time we will be exploring Not Afraid: Stories of Finding Significance.

Thank you all for your amazing support for the Not Alone book. It has given me so much courage to begin work on this project and I can't wait to get started. Head on over to the site, download the project document and tell me how you have become Not Afraid!

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What's your least favorite part of a new project? Getting it off the ground? The long middle part? Trying to wrap it up? Let me know in the comments!