Thank you, Jeffrey, this is very helpful feedback. I've been playing around with time and memories, weaving together how the past connects to the present. I am looking forward to a skilled editor helping me sort it out later this year. Really appreciate you taking the time to leave detailed feedback.
This was hugely entertaining. You've got a good sense for writing humour, and I laughed out loud, hopefully in the right places! This is such a fraught topic that you have made approachable and relatable, although I did grow up in Catholic education so have some similar experiences. Yours sound just a tiny bit more fun than mine!
"This is such a fraught topic that you have made approachable and relatable" Thank you thank you thank you for this. In my heart of hearts I love opening the door to talk about hard things, so this comment is very special to me. Thank you.
Laughed, and nodded along. Even though my upbringing was not evangelical (more mainline) I hung out with a group highly concerned about witnessing in college, at which I failed because it never made sense to me. Why was it up to me to convince someone about God, who surely can show up and transform lives without my feeble attempts to get them to say some rote set of words right....? The AI pic of you gave me the biggest laugh, but I guess that's not going in the book. Maybe an author photo....?!
LOL No photos in the book, so these are the perks for my newsletter readers! "Being a witness" was such a huge thing, to be a good one or a bad one.
"Why was it up to me to convince someone about God..." This is ultimately where I landed by the time I became a parent, which contributed to me not being super rules oriented.
Thanks for your comment - always great to hear from you.
Really liked that, though I don’t relate to the religious side of it at all. What’s true no matter what is that our children will replicate what we model for them and thus allow us to see how weird we are! I only really knew I had a swearing problem when my 2-year-old son walked around the house pushing his truck and saying “Dammit dammit dammit.” There was worse too.
Oh my, I love hearing your stories of when you were young, and of your experiences with the church. I have similar stories but not to the extreme that you experienced. I think the book you are writing will be a fresh voice for us all, along with some great humor.
My three kids, who are now in their 30's, have each come away from their church experiences with different stances. One of them is a non believer. Another one dives deep into theology and holds a liberal view on many things. She regrets the messages she bought into regarding purity culture. My third kid lives out his faith most similarly to how he was raised. I love them all and the fact that they are brave to be themselves. Will you be writing anything about purity culture?????
Fact: I too snuck off with a 'christian' boy. We were at White Earth Lutheran bible camp. We wandered down the path to the beach and sat on the bench there. We had a sweet chat on a beautiful evening, along with a make out session. We arrived back to the main camp late for a round of musical chairs with the whole group.
"I think the book you are writing will be a fresh voice for us all, along with some great humor." Thank you, Beth. This is my hope!
You are not the first to bring up the topic of purity culture in my comments related to my book! The challenge I run into is while purity culture was part of my upbringing, neither of my kids have been super into dating, so I didn't really have an opportunity to work through my non-purity culture perspective as a parent. Which means I'm not sure how to write about it (yet).
I think this is a great opener. It sets the stage, but also reminds us early that rules (and convention) are made to be broken--or at least reinterpreted in a way that suits us. Religion and parenting are often both situational.
Definitely relatable as one chapter I wrote for my memoir today that could be about faith and WHY I'm writing my memoir in the first place... I started to write it about faith and it took off about my experiences in Catholic school all through my schooling years. So, I get this entirely. I think faith shapes up-- even those who have zero faith, there's still some sort of belief there because who hasn't thought about it? Exactly. ♥️
I’m Jewish and love learning about other religions. This chapter is a great start.
Thank you!
This is definitely relatable and engaging, even though it comes from a very different culture from my own. I really enjoyed reading it.
I'm not sure if the ordering of the segments feels right. For me, it feels like it jumped around a lot. But I guess that is what editing is for.
Bottom line: You made me want to read more!
Thank you, Jeffrey, this is very helpful feedback. I've been playing around with time and memories, weaving together how the past connects to the present. I am looking forward to a skilled editor helping me sort it out later this year. Really appreciate you taking the time to leave detailed feedback.
You're welcome, Jen. You've got a great story to tell and I look forward to reading more of it.
This is such a great start! I laughed in the right spots and I want to read more.
I am not religious now but did do Sunday school, Bible study, VBS and publicly committed to a church between the ages of 8-14. 😉
Weird note: in the graduation picture I thought the kids had lobsters attached to their shoulders. In closer inspection maybe they are flowers. 🦞💐 🤣
Yes, how random that they do look like lobsters! 😂 Thank you for your comment, and now I know something new about you and our shared VBS history! :)
😂😂😂 love
❤️
This was hugely entertaining. You've got a good sense for writing humour, and I laughed out loud, hopefully in the right places! This is such a fraught topic that you have made approachable and relatable, although I did grow up in Catholic education so have some similar experiences. Yours sound just a tiny bit more fun than mine!
"This is such a fraught topic that you have made approachable and relatable" Thank you thank you thank you for this. In my heart of hearts I love opening the door to talk about hard things, so this comment is very special to me. Thank you.
Laughed, and nodded along. Even though my upbringing was not evangelical (more mainline) I hung out with a group highly concerned about witnessing in college, at which I failed because it never made sense to me. Why was it up to me to convince someone about God, who surely can show up and transform lives without my feeble attempts to get them to say some rote set of words right....? The AI pic of you gave me the biggest laugh, but I guess that's not going in the book. Maybe an author photo....?!
LOL No photos in the book, so these are the perks for my newsletter readers! "Being a witness" was such a huge thing, to be a good one or a bad one.
"Why was it up to me to convince someone about God..." This is ultimately where I landed by the time I became a parent, which contributed to me not being super rules oriented.
Thanks for your comment - always great to hear from you.
Really liked that, though I don’t relate to the religious side of it at all. What’s true no matter what is that our children will replicate what we model for them and thus allow us to see how weird we are! I only really knew I had a swearing problem when my 2-year-old son walked around the house pushing his truck and saying “Dammit dammit dammit.” There was worse too.
Ha! I have a story coming up next month that involves one of my kids swearing in front of my very churchy mother!
Thank you for your comment. I'm glad it was enjoyable even without your personal religious connection to it. This is what I'm hoping for.
Oh my, I love hearing your stories of when you were young, and of your experiences with the church. I have similar stories but not to the extreme that you experienced. I think the book you are writing will be a fresh voice for us all, along with some great humor.
My three kids, who are now in their 30's, have each come away from their church experiences with different stances. One of them is a non believer. Another one dives deep into theology and holds a liberal view on many things. She regrets the messages she bought into regarding purity culture. My third kid lives out his faith most similarly to how he was raised. I love them all and the fact that they are brave to be themselves. Will you be writing anything about purity culture?????
Fact: I too snuck off with a 'christian' boy. We were at White Earth Lutheran bible camp. We wandered down the path to the beach and sat on the bench there. We had a sweet chat on a beautiful evening, along with a make out session. We arrived back to the main camp late for a round of musical chairs with the whole group.
"I think the book you are writing will be a fresh voice for us all, along with some great humor." Thank you, Beth. This is my hope!
You are not the first to bring up the topic of purity culture in my comments related to my book! The challenge I run into is while purity culture was part of my upbringing, neither of my kids have been super into dating, so I didn't really have an opportunity to work through my non-purity culture perspective as a parent. Which means I'm not sure how to write about it (yet).
I think this is a great opener. It sets the stage, but also reminds us early that rules (and convention) are made to be broken--or at least reinterpreted in a way that suits us. Religion and parenting are often both situational.
Definitely relatable as one chapter I wrote for my memoir today that could be about faith and WHY I'm writing my memoir in the first place... I started to write it about faith and it took off about my experiences in Catholic school all through my schooling years. So, I get this entirely. I think faith shapes up-- even those who have zero faith, there's still some sort of belief there because who hasn't thought about it? Exactly. ♥️