Hi!
I’m Melissa.
I write for children and adults, and I approach writing a bit like a treasure hunt . . . with the hope of leading us all to that magical place where wonder and faith collide.
My goals are:
(1) to help children celebrate and retain the sense of art, creativity, and wonder that is so intuitive to them, and
(2) to help grown-ups find their way back to a place where delight and hope reign again.
This does not mean I center my work on rainbows and unicorns and fields of flowers (though I do like those things!); to the contrary, I believe wonder blooms best between a rock and a hard place . . . and that is often where I write it. I have three small children of my own, and I endeavor to give them a way to find wonder that doesn’t depend on idyllic circumstances.
For adults, I write Christian devotional material, though maybe not what you think about when you think of “a devotional” in the traditional sense. My longer work is a little artsy, a little unexpected, and a lot of how God speaks to me.
On Facebook, you’ll find me using “plain speech” but still looking for the beauty in faith and the gorgeous places where truth and love intersect. You won’t find a lot of doctrine, though you’ll see I have a high and humble respect for the Bible and God’s ability to speak through it in kind and intimate ways. I believe that God is much bigger and better than we can fully grasp. When I remember to look for that, I find anew the wonder that I remember seeing in everything as a child.
I am passionate about literature (not just “Christian literature”) and its ability to penetrate the mind and heart, and that is what I try to produce and share. Over on Instagram, you’ll find me sharing picture books based around a weekly theme. Although picture books often seem simple, I’ve learned from reading and writing that the very best ones always have more to say than you hear on the first read. I try to skim the surface of some of these underlying meanings with my Instagram posts. My goal is to eventually equip parents and caregivers with tangible tools to help children access the deeper world of literature through the books they already love.
In terms of professional experience, I have written for Guideposts, Dayspring’s Incourage.Me, and several local publications. Before that, I worked in the community that (at that time) had the second highest unemployment ranking in the United States as community and economic development faculty for the University of Georgia. Before that, I worked as a BigLaw attorney and federal law clerk in Atlanta. And before that, I was a college kid loving my summers as a 5th-7th grade camp counselor for Georgia 4-H. With those kind of jobs, you might be surprised to learn that I’m often slow to speak; not because I’m wishy-washy, but because I constantly find that the things I don’t know are greater than the things I do.
For the past year, I’ve been recovering from a serious traumatic brain injury, so I’ve changed my pace a lot and focused on the small things I can do. I invest in my children and husband, invest in my readers, and try to “do small things with great beauty.” It’s been a strange year with a lot of blessings. Maybe I should blog about that. 🙂
I’m not a perfect friend, but I try to be a good one . . . and I’m thrilled for the opportunity to become a good friend to you. Thanks for clicking in. I hope you’ll sign up for my email list so we can get to know one another better.
Blessings and love to you,
Melissa