No new posts for the next two weeks. We are all taking a short break for the holidays.
Back in the saddle starting January 12!
Personal
Christmas Blessings to Each of You
Thank you for being a loyal reader of our posts. We wouldn’t continue if it weren’t for you! We strive to bring a measure of insight to the conversation about writing, publishing, and all things between. Your feedback is appreciated! May you and yours have a blessed Christmas wherever you are. This will be our last post until January 12, 2026. We shall return with vim, vigor, notions, …
Christmas Blessings to You!
Christmas is upon us, and after you read this, you’ll likely be wrapping gifts, mailing and receiving cards, and making plans for your Christmas feast. I’m grateful to be part of a community where Christ remains the center of all the festivities. Meanwhile, the news is filled with reports of “record-breaking” spending, “record-breaking” crowds, “record-breaking” online shopping, and on and on. And …
Veterans Day
Today is a special day in the United States when we honor our veterans. It is our opportunity to thank and celebrate all those who have served our country in military service. Thank you for your service! A few years ago, Andrew Budek-Schmeisser posted these great words; and we are reposting them, like we have done previously, with his permission. They are perfect for this day. They did not have …
Choosing Nonfiction to Read
An unscientific Internet search shows that currently, four million books are published each year, with the U.S. leading the pack with over 275,000. So choosing which books to read can be daunting. I struggle to read every book that interests me, much less those on the fringes. I try to be careful with nonfiction. Since I’m interested in a number of topics, I quickly go down the proverbial rabbit …
Make Today Count
As the calendar flips another page, I am reminded of the inexorable passage of time. Below is a great video that creates a visual reminder of the “number of our days” (Psalm 90:12). Watch the video now, and then rejoin my thoughts underneath. (If you receive this via email, the video may not embed. Please click through to the site and watch it. Only two minutes long but forever a …
Honoring the Lord with Our Leisure Time
Anyone looking for entertainment can find it everywhere: television, streaming, social media. And, thankfully, books! With so much fun, we all must be discerning when choosing what to consume, and how to spend the portion of our time allotted to leisure. To that end, recently I’ve chosen to spend some of my free time reading classic books I missed for one reason or another. Through this process, …
“You Are What You Do” – A Very Dangerous Myth
Typically, we define work as something we “do.” Work can then be defined as the activity you do as a profession and for which you are paid. But if you are a writer, the latter half of that formula isn’t always a guaranteed proposition! Thus, for the writer, we are left with a definition of work as being what you do. But that can be a dangerous thing because we tend to let what we …
Gray Saturday
I wrote this many years ago and post it every Easter weekend as a reminder. May it speak to you in some small way. Gray Saturday by Steve Laube Holy weekend is such a study in contrasts. Friday is dark. Somber. Frightening in its hopelessness and pain. I do not like Dark Fridays. The nails bury themselves deep into my soul. They become a singular stake through the heart of this sinner. Piercing. …
Dark Friday
I wrote this piece several years ago and thought it appropriate to post every year on Dark Friday. Take Me, Break Me (a prayer) by Steve Laube Take my eyes, Lord. Strike me blind. * * * Then heal me, Lord, That I may see with Your eyes. Take my hands, Lord. Crush every bone. * * * Then heal me, Lord, That I may touch with Your tenderness. Take my ears, Lord. Deafen me. * * * Then …