I’m Kimberlee. I’m a Northwest suburban not-so-hipster mama who’s raising four crazy-rambunctious kids and trying to remember to breathe, to look, to see. I take photographs and write poetry (which you’ll be subjected to if you stick around) and try to capture the moments that flit away all too quickly.
I have many interests (which you’ll also be subjected to if you stick around), but I’m deeply passionate about only a few things: reading and writing great words, raising great kids, and living great faith. That’s my focus here on my blog.
But the truth? I’m not a great writer, nor am I a great parent, and my faith, to date, is often little greater than a mustard seed. I’m a work-in-progress, daily begging God for help (preferably in the form of a housekeeper and/or nanny), patience (you’d think with all the opportunities I have for practice, this would be a no-brainer, but apparently I’m a slow learner), and strength (a superpower or two would also be appreciated, Lord, just so You know).
I sometimes rail against the slowness of my growth as a writer, parent, and Christian. And even if I someday do become the great writer/parent/Christian I long to be, whatever greatness I may achieve will be tempered with my own agenda, ego, and motives. It’s enough to make me fling myself onto the floor in a quivering mass of self-loathing despair.
But thanks be to God, that’s not the whole truth. The rest of the truth is that ultimately it’s not about me and how great (or not great) I am. It’s about God and how great God is—it is God who uses me in spite of my self-interest, self-deception, and self-absorption, sometimes amazingly; who uses even those very ugly bits of me that I hate the most to make something beautiful, something great.
That’s why I pray every day that I would get out of God’s way so that I can be God’s way.
I’d love your company on this journey of becoming God’s way in the world, of becoming the people God intends and calls us to be. If you’d like to join me, please consider subscribing to my blog. I usually write one (or occasionally two) posts a week, so I won’t overwhelm your inbox.☺
And please feel free to write to me: I love to hear from readers. You’re one of the main reasons I write, and I learn so much from you…but only if you talk to me. You are always welcome to leave a comment on my blog or drop me an email. Please do!
You can also follow me on Twitter (@kconwayireton). I’m not a hyper-active Tweeter, but I’m working on visiting the site two or three times a week. (If you’re a Facebook fan, you can send me a friend request, but the chances are good that I won’t see it for six months: I don’t like drinking from firehoses, so I try to avoid the place.)
Most Popular Posts
If you’re new to my blog, you might want to read some of my archived posts. Here are a few reader favorites that’ll give you a sense of who I am, how I write, and what I write about:
Reading and Writing
Author Interview: L.L. Barkat
What a Woodpecker Sounds Like
The View from Saturday
Adapting Anne
Point Mouette
Raising Kids
The Baby Hugger Lift
Day of Destruction
Bedtime Blessing
Grape Jelly
Growing in God
Examen
The Road to Bethlehem
Locks of Love
Getting Off the Porch
What We’ve Been Given
Miscellaneous
Eleven
Letter to My Mother
Of Mice and Me
Grandma
A Bit More About Me
I’ve been writing books since I was six years old, when my parents published a collection of short stories that I wrote and illustrated.
Later, enamored with Nancy Drew, several friends and I wrote mystery stories, which my parents were once again kind enough to publish. (Can I just say the photocopy machine at my dad’s office came in super handy for budding novelist moi?)
My most recent book is Cracking Up: A Postpartum Faith Crisis, which slipped quietly into the world in September 2013—quite a contrast from my first book, The Circle of Seasons, which, as you can see, was a very exciting event in my life:
Besides these books, I’ve also I’ve written for MomSense, Weavings, Christian Reflection, and TheThoughtfulChristian.com. For my church, I’ve written devotions for Advent and Christmas and Bible studies for Lent. I also write guest posts for Godspace, A Deeper Church, and Tweetspeak Poetry.
I’ve written a young adult novel about a girl who must protect her family’s dragon from St. George, which I hope to someday revise yet again before I send it out to another round of agents. (Maybe when my kids are in college?)
In the meantime, I blog every week on three topics that are dear to my heart: reading and writing, raising my four kids, and living a life of (I hope) ever-deepening faith.
Our family lives in a tiny but super cute house in Seattle, and we worship at Bethany Presbyterian Church, which is pretty much our second home.
