what it was like to be a teenager?

Really what it was like? Not some dreamed-up idealized version of high school where you felt secure, loved, and popular? Because I do. I try to block it out sometimes, but it is there, still haunting me.

I grew up in Dallas, Texas, in an area that some people like to call affectionately “the bubble.” A common misconception is that where there is wealth and conservative values that life is easy, but oh how that is wrong -especially if you are a girl trying to fight your way through high school.

I fared pretty well. I made good grades. I had boatloads of friends (I guess you could call them that, but more accurately I always had lots of people around.) I was actively involved in Younglife & K-Life. I didn’t really drink. I was Associate Editor of the yearbook. I thought drugs were bad. I was elected as a leader of “the” girls’ service organization. I had it together, or that’s what I wanted to believe. (more…)

A week or so ago, I traveled to Dallas, Texas for the Women of Faith Conference.

Women of Faith is a division of Thomas Nelson and so it was essentially a work trip. And candidly, without my connection to Thomas Nelson, I probably wouldn’t have attended a Women of Faith conference.

You see I don’t typically enjoy being in extremely large groups of women, and that is what this is, a group of 16,000 women to be specific. (I know its weird, but sometimes lot and lots of women in a confined space make me feel overwhelmed and not in a good way.)

Not attending Women of Faith would have been a big mistake because Women of Faith should not be missed. Here’s why:

1. Mary Graham and her team know how to produce an event. For fifteen hours you can sit in a chair and be totally and completely entertained. There is literally never a dull moment. (more…)

Like There Is Any Easy Answer to That Question

It is funny when people ask where I am from or where home is, I never really know what to say.

I was born in Dallas (Texas), spent my collegiate years in Boulder (Colorado), settled in Birmingham (Alabama) for the eight years after college, and currently live and work in Nashville (Tennessee). I truly believe that I have resided in the best places this country has to offer — minus perhaps Austin (Texas) which would be next on my list.

My Three Nieces - Macon, Kate, and Anne Shelton at My Parent's House in Dallas

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