WHAT DO YOU BLOG ABOUT?

I tell about things I notice.  Mary Oliver wrote, “Instructions for living a life:  Pay attention.  Be astonished.  Tell about it.”  I notice things about the human experience, like hope and love and the importance of telling the truth.  I notice things about parenthood, about God, and about relationships, so I tell about those things.  I notice funny things, because I think most of life could be told as a comedy if you see it right.  This blog is like a lifestyle blog, only a little less style and a little more life.

SO, YOU WROTE A BOOK BASED OFF A BLOG POST?

Yep. And here's the gist of it...

Respect > Attention.

You Are Beautiful, Just So.

Be Nice on the Internet.

Replace Drama with Passion.

Don't Follow Your Heart.

Emotion Is Good.

Smoking is Not Cool.

All Opinions Are Not Equal.

Dumb is Never Cute.

You Are Enough. 

WILL YOU WRITE ANOTHER BOOK?

Yes.  Enough and 10 Things for Teen Girls were such a surprising project. The post struck a nerve and went viral without my planning—without my knowledge even—overnight. I am so thankful for it, because I was a gift. I could never have created something that touched so many people if I’d tried. Those books chose me, but now I get to choose the books. The proposal I’m working on now is the book I dreamed about writing when I thought about the possibility of being an author someday.

ARE YOU STILL IN YOUTH MINISTRY?

Not vocationally. This season of my life is parenting and writing. I love teenagers, truly, and I suspect I always will.  Now I am serving my church and loving my neighbors in a different way.

CAN MADELINE SEE AT ALL?

Yes!  Madeline can see color, and she can see things that are high contrast, enlarged, and close.  Her impairment is severe (legally blind is 20/200, and Madeline’s acuity is 20/1000 in only one eye), but she uses that vision in remarkable ways. She reads braille and print, but will use braille almost exclusively as she gets older.  (It is one thing to read “See Spot Run” visually, and quite another to read a textbook.)  She walks with a white cane, but climbs playgrounds fearlessly.  She is a treasure.  You can read about our adventures in vision loss here.

OTHER MADELINE FAQS:

What is her diagnosis?  Optic Nerve Hypoplasia

Will it ever get better?  There is no known treatment or cure for ONH. 

Can your other children see?  Yes.  ONH is not a genetic or hereditary condition, and the chances of my having another child with ONH are less than 1%.  

Are you learning braille?  Yes.  I enjoy it because I love languages and codes and puzzles.  But it is hella hard.

DO YOU SPEAK?

Yes, you can find more information about that here.