I (Still) Love You, Camp Ridgecrest

I’m only twenty miles away from Camp Ridgecrest, but it might as well be twenty dimensions. A bunch of foggy memories along with a million unformed, never-to-be ones. It’s a fog I can’t shake, follows my footsteps within and beyond the Blue Ridge. Am I crazy? Obsessed? Why does a camp have such a grip on me after all these years? It was one summer. One effing brutal beautiful summer. Why do I feel so much? Why do I hurt with a longing for what was and what wasn’t? And why do a bunch of entitled white southern Gen X Christian moms rake me to the core?

Prodigal Father

The plot twist of the book is Nouwen’s charge that we aren’t merely to identify with the lost younger son or the lost older son. But we are to identify with the founding father. Becoming more like him as we walk this road. We are to be ones who create home for other people. Ones who keep them safe and warm. Ones who always welcome them in. Even – especially – after they leave.

You Need to LEAVE

The words “leave” and “stay” keep colliding with one another, over and over throughout my adulthood. I’m learning the equal and opposite power of each.

I Have an Autoimmune Disease. How You Can Help.

After spending a week in the hospital last month, I got diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease: a form of vasculitis called granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), formerly Wegener’s disease. Now begins the long journey toward remission.

To Bleed Unfettered on the Page

A friend recently recommended we shut our Bibles for a second and pen some psalms of our own. I couldn’t stop smiling and feeling convicted over his blunt advice. I want to follow it. So, here’s to 2020. A bright and shiny new year with a bright and shiny new journal.

Do Not Calm This Storm

Jesus won’t calm the storm with a single word. His way is a way of work. Of picking up crosses daily. Of lugging said crosses up mountains. Of taking the narrower way of all the broader ways available to my wanderlust.

When I Paid Seventeen Bucks for a Book with No Name

Would you ever buy a book without knowing the title, the author, or even the plot? I did. The independent bookstore downtown is a quirky little place. It’s where I take all my visitors for the tradition of taking their “YAY!” magnet pictures, and beyond books in genres like yoga-gardening and nude watercolors, you can also […]

Look Up and Let Go

It’s time for another round of Wandering Wednesday: Guest Post Edition! Up today is a guy named Jason Clark, singer/songwriter/author extraordinaire. His new book, Prone to Love is now available, and it’s fantastic. I am so stoked to feature him today with his humorous wandering tale to New York City. Grand Central Terminal. Spring of 1993 […]

What’s Your Favorite Friendship Story?

I’m currently taking my pretty little time drafting a second book. I’ll soon divulge more info on that venture in an upcoming newsletter (sign up, won’t you?). In the meantime, though, I had a question for y’all. I was hoping we could have an extensive dialogue in the comments below. Here’s the question: What are […]

The Top-11 Things I Hope Not to Say to Donald Miller

This a post inspired by Rob Shepherd’s “Things I Hope To Not Say To @JonAcuff.” Mine is different because it is, obviously, about Donald Miller and not that other famous Christian blogger/author/cool guy. Whereas Mr. Shepherd recently united under the same roof as Mr. Acuff at this year’s Catalyst conference, I’m soon-to-be uniting under the same […]

What Is A Good Story?

I’m currently re-reading Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. It is, without question, my most favorite book. The Holy Bible would have taken the top spot were it not for one, but TWO tedious books of Chronicles. Side-note: I really hope you guys “get” my sense of humor by now. ANYWAY. Just two […]

EMPATHY: My #5 “Strengths Finder” Strength

Finally, it’s the fifth in a five-part series on Strengths Finder, a phenomenal resource from Gallup. Our culture has grown obsessed with fixing flaws, but Strengths Finder is all about emphasizing your innate strengths. I’ve already blogged about my #1 strength, INTELLECTION, my #2 strength, HARMONY, my #3 strength, INPUT, and my #4 strength, RESPONSIBILITY. Now, the final strength in my […]

Why I’m Giving Away My Book (Again!)

It was a ludicrous idea: give away my first book. But I THRIVE on ludicrous. I mean, all you have to do is read the final 2 chapters of Struggle Central to realize how ludicrous I really am. Plus, I used to love mayonnaise sandwiches as a child. So, ludicrous was the way to go. This […]

RESPONSIBILITY: My #4 “Strengths Finder” Strength

This is the fourth in a five-part series on Strengths Finder, a fantastic resource from Gallup. Our culture seems obsessed on exposing our flaws and weaknesses and how we can “improve” by altering or even reversing those traits. But Strengths Finder is all about uncovering your innate strengths and building those virtues. I’ve already blogged about my #1 strength, INTELLECTION, […]

INPUT: My #3 “Strengths Finder” Strength

This is the third in a five-part series on Strengths Finder, a fantastic resource from Gallup that helps people realize their strengths. Our culture seems obsessed on exposing our flaws and weaknesses and how we can “improve” by altering or even reversing those traits. But Strengths Finder is all about uncovering your innate strengths and building those virtues. I’ve […]

HARMONY: My #2 “Strengths Finder” Strength

This is the second in a five-part series on Strengths Finder, a fantastic resource from Gallup that helps people realize their strengths. Our culture seems obsessed on exposing our flaws and weaknesses and how we can “improve” by altering or even reversing those traits. But Strengths Finder is all about uncovering your innate strengths and building those virtues. On […]

INTELLECTION: My #1 “Strengths Finder” Strength

This is the first in a five-part series on Strengths Finder, a fantastic resource from Gallup that helps people realize their strengths. Our culture seems obsessed on exposing our flaws and weaknesses and how we can “improve” by altering or even reversing those traits. But Strengths Finder is all about uncovering your innate strengths and building […]

Yes, Book Trailers Are a Thing

So, yesterday was a wonderful day. After a week and a half of faithfully/madly editing some personal video footage, I finally uploaded a book trailer for my upcoming project. Yes, book trailers are a thing. The reaction couldn’t have been more encouraging. From Twitter to Facebook to YouTube itself, the encouragement was overwhelming. Yesterday was such an affirming benchmark in the […]

“Surfing for God” by Michael John Cusick: TMZ Reviews

“Every time a man knocks on a brothel door, he is really searching for God.” — G.K. Chesterton I’m attracted to openness and vulnerability in writing — blogs, books, you name it. I can never get enough stories on the human struggle; the messier, the more honest, the infinitely more encouraging. A former porn/sex addict, […]

TMZ Exclusive: An Interview with Max Andrew Dubinsky

Before driving across the country last week, I met up with one of my favorite bloggers, Max Dubinsky. We both happen to live in southern California, and he graciously agreed to an in-person interview, thus unwittingly allowing me to break out the phrase “TMZ Exclusive” when such wording is usually reserved by that other TMZ […]

Books I’ve Never Read: TMZ’s Top-11 Favorites

I like lists. Lists keep the world in order. Lists tell us what’s the best of the best and the worst of the worst and the medicorest of the mediocre. Top-10 lists are cute, but cliché. That’s why I do top-11 lists. They’re less cute, yes, but also less cliché, which also means more original. […]

TMZ Reviews: Blue Like Jazz

I recently saw Blue Like Jazz. What’s Blue Like Jazz, you ask? Isn’t that a book, you ask? How can one “see” a book, you ask? Why was this a real thing, you ask? Well, I can answer all but one of those. Blue Like Jazz was originally a book, yes, but it is now […]

TMZ Reviews: Tyler Tarver’s “Letters to Famous People”

Hey there TMZ’ers, what’s up? The sky. Unless you’re inside, and it’s the ceiling. Or unless you’re in the Hunger Games, and it’s a force-field dome. And if you’re in the arena shouldn’t you be avoiding child-killers instead of reading this blog? I mean, I’m honored, but if you die then you can’t read my […]