This week was crazy.

Tuesday night I had a recruitment event and got to spend time with some lovely young writers and future English majors. It’s fun to get to chat with people who remind me so much of myself at their age! Then we all heard Karen Swallow Prior speak about how important it is for people of faith to read, and not only that, but to read great literature, even if it includes content that may be contrary to our faith. She talked about the Areopagitica, a speech given by John Milton, in which he says that truth is truth, wherever we find it. That’s a paraphrase of a paraphrase, but it was just what I needed to hear this week.

On Wednesday, I had writing group. It’s always so good to get together with these lovely, talented women. They are so smart, and their fiction is so sharp. I’m so blessed to benefit from their brilliance.

Yesterday, I taught a biblical counseling class at Northwestern– I spoke about OCD and brain disorders, better defining what OCD is, debunking myths, and talking about treatment. It was really great; the students were wonderful and responsive, and they asked very thoughtful questions. Then, last night, I spoke to the Emerging Artists Collective about faith and writing and their intersections in my life. It was a great crowd, and again: great questions. I read them a pre-parable draft of a scene in Truest as well as the parable-ized version. I think everyone agreed it moved in the right direction.

So, then, of course, today I was sick. I spent basically the entire day in bed, finally crawling out around seven PM or so. Now I have Deathly Hallows pt 1 on while I work on my blog and eat pizza. Self care. Love.

I hope you’ve all had a great week. I did. It was just a lot!

❤