Based on Isaiah 11:1-10
Sonnets for Advent: Sunday week 4
Sonnets for Advent: Friday week 2
It's week two of Advent and the next installment of my “Sonnets for Advent” series is up. The poems are based on the daily readings from my home church. ❤️
Fiction as Pretense
The longer I write fiction, the more I realize that my version of "write what you know," looks like me working through my trauma by writing it. The first time I knowingly wrote my trauma into a story was when I wrote about a character being molested. It was supposed to be her story, part... Continue Reading →
Trapped
It was nauseating to listen to the high whine of the fly’s wings while I attempted to eat my breakfast. The sickening extension of each thick silence that stretched between moments of terror.
Reflections on Psalm 102
I'm going through another one of those ugly, dark periods of my struggle with mental illness. Periods that seem more and more common. It's exhausting. I end so many days wondering why I keep trying. But this morning the LORD refreshed my spirit while reading Psalm 102. You can read the whole thing here, but... Continue Reading →
Haunted
I feel the dreams lurking in the corners of my room after I wake. They drain my day. This strange amalgam of fiction and reality...
Hope in I AM: Reflections on Exodus 3:14-15
Israel spent 430 years in Egypt. Once a refuge, it had become a prison. Their struggle was relentless, their pain exponential. …and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his... Continue Reading →
Worst Reads of 2020
Since I read with such relish, it's only fitting that those that don't suit my taste are spewed forth with vehemence. Below are my 10 least favorite reads from 2020. Prepare for my version of bookish vitriol. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith Precious Ramotswe has set up the first ladies... Continue Reading →
Best Christian & Theology Reads of 2020
The emotional fluxes of a long, difficult pregnancy laid me pretty low for most of 2020. I spent much of my time in bed, fighting off the demons of depression and debilitating nausea. God lifted my vacillating spirits through his word, sermons, and the teaching and testimony of other believers in books. I learned so... Continue Reading →
Favorite Fiction Reads of 2020
In 2020 I read over 160 books. Most of them were of the nonfiction variety, so picking my favorite fiction reads was a lot easier this year than in 2019. Here they are from least to greatest, my top 10 fiction reads from 2020. Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne I read a... Continue Reading →
Rachel Svendsen 