Coloring Outside the Lines - Page 3 of 5 - One woman’s journey of learning to ask the hard questions, and laugh a little bit, too.

Here I am, Here’s What I’ve Got

September 25, 2018 By Cara Meredith

We left town this weekend. I know, this is perhaps the most drab of opening sentences, but hear me out: we mustered the energy to drive eighty miles south this weekend. We packed our car full of food and camping gear and coloring books galore and went to the Santa Cruz mountains this weekend. We set aside the physical and emotional exhaustion that comes with moving, and we left town this weekend. And it was good. We holed up with… Read more

What do you need?

September 19, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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I’ve been thick in the midst of copy edits for my book – which is why you’re seeing the weekly post a day or two later than usual and why everything else in my life seems to be on hold for the moment. Application for after school care for my oldest son in a couple of weeks? On hold. The article due last week and the other one I swear I’d finish by the 15th? On hold. All those boxes we’ve yet… Read more

Learning to Ask Good Questions, All Over Again

September 14, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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For a long time, I prided myself in my ability to ask good questions. Call it the reporter or the curious human in me, I knew how to so engage in conversation that I could draw answers out of those labeled most unlikely to talk. I was the Oprah of my imagination and sometimes even of coffee shop conversations. After all, before I became a writer, I was a high school English teacher, and after that a director in a non-profit… Read more

A Little Bit of Self-Care (and Soul Care), Courtesy of April Yamasaki

September 11, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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As my friends over at Selfie podcast would say, lately I’ve been on a self-care bender. In that way, I was so delighted to pick up a copy of April Yamasaki’s newest book, Four Gifts, which essentially provides a Christian perspective on self-care. I’ve only got a couple of chapters left to finish, but I’d love to get this book in YOUR hands. Check out the interview below and leave a comment at the end to win a copy of the book! –… Read more

Whatever, John MacArthur: You’ve Got the Wrong God

September 7, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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Christian Twitter was alive with conversation of social justice this last week, mostly because of this statement against social justice, signed by nearly 5,000 pastors, writers and lay leaders. I, for one, did not sign the statement, nor did I browse through sentiments of its 14-point proclamation until earlier this evening. When a friend called and asked me what I thought, I told her I wasn’t going to spend a lick of time giving it the attention it so desperately desired…. Read more

The Power of Books With Book Mogul, Anne Bogel

September 4, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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It’d been awhile since I read a book that left me with a permanent smirk plastered across my face. But then, there it was: the smirk, the grin, the Oh, this author gets it! type of feeling that comes when you read a book and feel an instantaneous connection with the one who penned the words in the first place. I suppose that’s what the best kind of books do, after all. They remind us that we’re not alone, that someone, somewhere… Read more

Going Straight Through the Middle

August 31, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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Sometimes, parenting is hard. Scratch that. Most all of the time, parenting is hard. When our first son was born, my husband and I marveled at how easily we adjusted to life with a little one. We called him our Angel Baby, mostly because the books said we could. He slept through the night at a pretty early age; he ate when he was supposed to eat, played when he was supposed to play, pooped when he was supposed to… Read more

When Your Three-Year Old Calls You a Servant (and Other Issues of Identity)

August 28, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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“Mama, you’re a servant,” my little boy said yesterday afternoon, as we held hands and walked through the foyer of the old church building. “Oh buddy,” I replied, “thank you!” I figured he’d learned the lesson in Godly Play that morning and really, really taken the lesson to heart. Who’s a servant in your life? I imagined the teacher asking the four year olds who sat in a circle on the floor. Who’s just like that super great guy, Jesus, in your… Read more

A Tale of Mismatched Earrings and Merciful Kindness

August 24, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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A week or so ago, I walked past the kitchen counter and noticed a tangled pair of mismatched earrings. Why would there be one dangly silver earring and one dangly gold earring bunched together like I’d purposefully worn them that way? Now, a couple of things before we go any further: first of all, as cool as it would be for my husband and the boys to sport dangly earrings from their ears or noses, that’s not exactly their style…. Read more

Recognizing God’s Many Voices with Liz Ditty

August 21, 2018 By Cara Meredith

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When a friend launches their book into the world, I can’t help but cheer them on by pointing YOU to their writing. Liz Ditty is one such friend: she and I met when we were both just dipping our toes into the writing water. We wondered if our words mattered and whether we even had books in us (turns out, we did). Well, Liz’s book baby, God’s Many Voices, releases today and I can’t wait for you to get your hands on… Read more