Hope Misunderstood

“The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.” Proverbs 10:28 There are lots of reasons to think about hope and expectation in the days leading up to Christmas. We are looking forward to certain gifts, hoping that what we ourselves give will meet with thankful excitement, praying that […]

The Art of Being Wrong

In an interview at the end of the Stardust audiobook, the questioner asks Neil Gaiman, “Do people come up to you at, say, readings or public events and suggest to you that they’ve found mistakes or incongruities in your books?” Neil Gaiman: “Oh yeah, and 80% of the time, 90% of the time, they’re not […]

What Movies Miss About Marriage

I’ve already professed my love for The Greatest Showman. Let me tell you now about something surprising it exposed about me. “A Million Dreams” is the love song between Phineas and Charity. It starts when they are children and time-hops into their young adulthood, when Phineas picks her up from her parents’ home and they […]

The Best YA Hero

“Do you want Wendy’s or Arby’s?” he asked me. I pursed my lips, thinking. “Arby’s it is,” he said, turning the car. That’s right: he apparently knew that I wanted a beef and cheddar sandwich from the way my lips were scrunched. It’s interactions like these that make my husband Cap feel like a mind-reader. […]

How I Almost Broke My Marriage

My husband Cap and I went on our first date 10 years ago today. The ten years we’ve been together have easily been the best of my life. There are days I feel overwhelming sweetness, as if I can’t believe this blessed life is mine—and he’s the main reason, humanly speaking, I have it. There […]

That Time I Disagreed with my Husband—and was Wrong

If you don’t know me personally, here’s a fun fact: I am a fan of many things, but the thing I fangirl hardest about is my husband, Cap Stewart. (Everyone who does know me personally is now nodding, perhaps eye-rolling.) At his blog Happier Far (Paradise Lost reference ftw), he has taken a stand against […]