Category Archives: Sacred Mundane

… The day before Thanksgiving we got to hear the sweetest sound, a sound we’ve longed to hear for such a long time:

The sound of our baby’s heartbeat. 

Yes, I’m sharing now. It’s still early, and I know it’s not “safe” to share. But if I’ve learned one thing from this life — nothing’s safe that’s not committed to Christ, everything’s safe that is. 

So I share with you, faithful readers who patiently follow my meanderings and ramblings, and ask you to please pray for this sweet child of ours, who even now is being wonderfully knitted together by the Maker, in my womb.

And, this Saturday is my last speaking event, as I’m taking all of 2018 off speaking. It’s been 10 years teaching, exploring the sweet Scriptures with so many of you dear and wonderful women, and I’m so unspeakably grateful …

… but this mama is ready for a season of rest.

So this is our year of jubilee, of sorts. We’re letting the ground lie fallow. Giving ourselves a little more space. And celebrating the goodness of God these last 10 years and shifting gears for new seasons ahead. I’ll still be writing here, of course, so stay tuned, and I may do a weekly podcast so I still have an opportunity to rant and rave about the goodness of God! 😉 Lord willing, I’ll be back to speaking in 2019.

Lastly, we are SUPER excited to offer you a super-duper SALE on Sacred Mundane, right here, just in time for Christmas. From now through December 18th, while supplies last, we’re offering Sacred Mundane for cheaper than Amazon (or anywhere else! Even cheaper than kindle!) with free shipping! I only have 188 copies left in my garage ;), so when they’re gone they’re gone, but I’d love to get them to you! It’s a great time to snag one for your sister, mom, friends, neighbors.

Below you’ll find the book trailer, if you’d like to share that’d be great! Also, if you have read the book or know others who have: Would you consider writing a review on Amazon? (Even if you bought it elsewhere.) Reviews are a huge blessing to me!

Thank you so much for journeying along with me this year. It’s been hard and good. I hope this book has been and will continue to be a blessing to you. Please consider sharing it this holiday season!

Get the book here.

(If links above won’t work for you, simply copy-and-paste either of these links:

https://squareup.com/store/sacred-mundane

https://mkt.com/sacred-mundane

Thank you!)

{Thanks for reading.}

Sacred Mundane: an Invitation to Find Freedom, Purpose, and Joy

Hey friends! I’ve been unplugged this week and I apologize for the late notice, but we’re over at Simple Homeschool right now sharing about tending your heart, and offering a Sacred Mundane giveaway! This topic is more certainly applicable to us all, not just homeschoolers, so I hope you’ll check it out! Giveaway ends Sunday morning early, so head on over and leave a comment to win! Thanks for reading.

~

I‘ve been there more times than I care to admit — looking ahead at the new school year and searching for just the right change: a new book, a new method, a new schedule. If I just change up this or that, maybe it’ll be that magic bullet?

Certainly, sometimes a tweak here and there truly helps. But more often than not, you know the one thing that most needs to change?

Me.

Nine times out of ten, the issue isn’t the workbook, it’s my mindset. {Read the rest here…}

Ten years ago today, I birthed my words into the world for the very first time. 

I was in a dark season, nursing a fussy baby and living with my parents. It was smack dab in the middle of the 50-month season of silence I discuss in Sacred Mundane. Jeff knew I needed something, an outlet, a way to express my angst and process my feelings.

He bought me karipatterson.com for $13 and told me I now had a blog. 

I had never heard of a blog. At this point people had MySpace accounts, and that didn’t interest me. A blog sounded even less desirable–like a mix of a slog, a bog, and a log. None of those were appealing, but I did believe with all my heart that I was called to write.

At that point it had already been about seven years since I first heard “Sacred Mundane” whispered to my soul. I knew I was meant to live first, and eventually, write a book by this title, but I may as well have been called to walk on the moon, the distance seemed so vast between where I was and where I hoped to be.

Jeff opened the window on my browser, showed me how to click the “Publish” button, and told me to write every day.

So I did. I began with our love story, When God Broke My Heart, and went from there. I didn’t know how to add pictures or share posts (I didn’t even have a FB account). I think I had two subscribers–Jeff and my mom.

But it was a freeing place to play with words. It was fun to experiment with expression, to attempt to articulate complex emotions, conflicting feelings, confusing situations. I enjoyed the regularity of writing every day, whether I felt like it or not, knowing no one was probably reading it anyway so it was okay to just be raw and real. I wasn’t trying to wow anyone, I just enjoyed words and played with them until they best expressed my heart.

Then I tried my hand at some magazine articles. Not one of them were published.

They were awful because when I wrote them I was trying to be a good writer. Anything I’ve written while “trying to be a good writer” has usually turned out terribly. Even as I edited Sacred Mundane and revisited portions written several years ago, I could easily identify, “Oh, I was trying to be a good writer right there. Delete it all.”

Why is “trying to be a good writer” such a detriment to great writing? I believe it’s because it puts the focus on self, and nothing is more off-putting than reading a book that draws unnecessary attention to its author. Superb writing draws attention away from itself and onto the beauty of the idea expressed.

When I stopped trying to write a good book, and began loving, praying for, and caring about the people who would turn its pages, I began to write something a little more worth reading. When I stopped trying to “be good speaker” and started pouring out my heart and giving myself for the sake of the souls in those seats, then maybe I began sharing something a little more worth listening to.

Most of my time here on the blog has been rather mundane. I learned early on that in order to write well I’d need to write some trash as well. This too was freeing. But over the course of these ten years I’ve written thousands of blog posts, adding up to more than million words. For several years I wrote a new blog post every single day, as a discipline. Now I’m slowing way down, as I focus my energy more on raising my kids and (Lord willing) writing more books.

My point is simply this: What is it that you are called to do that may as well be walking on the moon, for how far away it seems?

They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Of course that’s not always true, but it doesn’t hurt to try. I’ve probably spent close to that many hours writing, and certainly haven’t mastered the art. I’ve spent more than that many hours parenting, and still feel hopelessly under-qualified at times.

Whatever the aim may be, I encourage you: Don’t focus on “being a good _____” (writer, parent, teacher, speaker).

Focus on the people you’re serving, loving, raising, communicating with. Focus on the glorious God who gives good gifts of words and stories and wrack your brain on how to draw attention to Him. Don’t settle for just “being a good” whatever … look beyond you to them, the ones who will read, receive, enjoy.

And remember, God’s pleasure over you does not rise and fall with the Likes, Shares, follows, or reviews you receive.

My work hidden in the shadows is just as valuable as that done in the spotlight.

What is worth ten years of your time? I’m very grateful for these ten years of tapping away on these keys. It’s been good for my heart, and I hope, in just a little way, it’s been good for yours too.

Thanks for reading. 

Have you snagged a copy of Sacred Mundane?? Amazon has copies on sale now for only $11.59! 

Out of nowhere it seemed to come, like a wave.

I blinked hard, pulled the little girls closer in on my lap, wrapped my arms around them…

…like I’m the one comforting them but I know of course it’s the other way around.

The service ended, but my anxiety didn’t, and the easy laughter and light conversation felt incongruous with the heaviness in my heart.

I stood in line for lunch.

Behind me was a friend. We’ve been in a deep places before. We’ve known tears, pain, prayers. She’s walked dark valleys, I know. I consider for a moment, my arms are folded tight across my chest. It’s always so much easier to stay silent, of course. Who wants to be Debbie Downer at the church picnic? But then I think of how many times I’ve been glad she’s shown up, been real, bared her soul. I look into her light face and say it softly:

“Can you pray for me? I’m just …”

It only takes a sentence or two. She gets it. Without a big ado, she leans in, slips an arm around my shoulders, and we enter His throne of grace right there in the buffet line.

After my turkey sandwich, she asks if other sisters can pray for me too. I hesitate. All I can think is, I don’t want to be the spectacle. I don’t want to be the downer in the midst of all this joy. I’d rather just go hole up, hide out. 

But I’ve been around these parts enough to know–right when you want to hide is when you most need to step out and show your scraped up heart.

Wounds you hide just fester.

And so I sat on the grass in the shade, and somewhere those sisters all surfaced, silently, from out of nowhere, all around me, hands on shoulders, my feet, my arms. Love and care flowing from friends who aren’t competing or comparing, sisters who are SO FOR YOU it’s just crazy. Sisters who’d go to great lengths to see you thrive. And they prayed up a storm, and I did the ugly cry and it was worth it because tears cleanse and heal and hope rose up strong and peace came unshakable and I was reminded again why the Church is the embodiment of Jesus Himself.

His hands. His feet. His voice. His embrace.

We need each other.

And all of this was unplanned. Not scheduled. Coordinated. Organized.

The most powerful ministry usually takes place in the ordinary in-between spots as we do life together. 

I remember so clearly, one night this Spring. Bible study night. I wasn’t leading that night, and I was so tired.  I’ll just stay home, I thought. Nothing big was planned that night. I felt like holing up. But something urged me on to go, and I was so glad.

So much shared. So much need, so much breakthrough, so much unplanned ministry.

So much happens when we just show up for life. 

When you show your stuff, your scars, your stains. When you offer your hand, your heart, your kind smile.

When you don’t hole up, hide out, hold back.

That’s why I show up. That’s why I share. That’s why I wrote Sacred Mundane.

I wrote Sacred Mundane with the hope that women everywhere will see life for what it truly is: An opportunity to see, know, and love the Creator, their Father God who loves them with reckless abandon. My prayer is that self-protective layers will be shed, that light will overcome darkness, that freedom will reign and lives will change.

And today, I’m happy to announce: It’s here. It’s launch day. I pray these pages bless your heart and draw your gaze up to the One who loves you most of all. It might be just the thing to read together, in community, where arms can slip around shoulders and hands can be held and tears can be shed and life can be lived and hearts can be healed.

So, shall we? We have a little book trailer below, so feel free to share and let’s have ourselves a little Sacred Mundane revolution living our ordinary days for our extraordinary God! 

Thanks for reading.

Sacred Mundane: an Invitation to Find Freedom, Purpose, and Joy