Last month I had the pleasure of attending my first awards ceremony ever: the 63rd Annual Christopher Awards in New York City. The Christopher's exist to celebrate media that affirms the highest values of the human spirit. Due to alphabetical bias (aka my last name is Becker), I received the first award ...

I'm heading to Toronto today for a quick trip–first, tonight, to meet in person my online friend Louise Kinross, editor of Bloom: Parenting Kids with Disabilities and then to offer some thoughts on achievement and identity as a Bloom speaker tonight. Tomorrow morning, I'll be interviewed for television ...

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to talk with Tony Rossi about A Good and Perfect Gift. He has posted the interview on his blog, Christopher Closeup. It includes a link to our conversation as well as transcribed excerpts to questions that range from the practical:

"In today's world, what does a ...

I just realized that I forgot to tell you all that Quin Hillyer reviewed A Good and Perfect Gift in the American Spectator a few weeks ago. I remembered because he blogged about it again last week, in response to George Will's column about his son Jon, who has Down syndrome and just celebrated his 40th ...

I'm supposed to be in New York City today, attending the Q sessions with Eugene Peterson, author of a number of thoughtful and spiritually transformative books, including The Message and my favorite among many, Leap Over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday Christians. Unfortunately, I won't make ...

As a part of the Patheos Book Club, I was asked to reflect upon Jo Saxton's new book, More Than Enchanting. This book, about women recognizing their calling and ability to lead and influence others within the church, caused me to think about my own role as a female leader. Here's what I wrote:

The lines ...

This interview appeared in a newsletter for Tiny Tots Therapy:

As an author & mother, what gave you the strength to share your personal story?

When Penny was diagnosed with Down syndrome a few hours after birth, I didn't know how to respond. Over the course of the next year, I think I experienced ...

Okay, it's a deceptive blog title. I have no idea how to make my book a best seller, and even if I had the time to try, I'm not sure I'd be willing to devote the energy. But I do know that two major factors in whether or not books continue to sell are 1) word of mouth (so if you liked A Good and Perfect ...

Marilee and I head up to Boston today, and I'm looking forward to visiting with friends and family, reading with old and new friends at the Vineyard Church tonight, meeting with my aunt's book club tomorrow and reading again at Gordon-Conwell College on Friday.

Meanwhile, just to keep you up-to-date, ...

has been "out there" for about two months now, and I've had my first string of readings and talks associated with it (and by the way, I fixed the link to the talk about perfection from earlier this week so you can now access it). Overall, the response has been a positive one, from parents of children ...

A friend remarked a number of years ago that writing a memoir has three stages–living the story, writing the story, and then sending the story out into the world. Each part contains its own risks, of course, but I'm feeling the vulnerability of part three these days. I want to defend myself against ...

Here's a list of the blog posts I meant to write this week (the picture, by the way, is fun enough that I had hoped to come up with some creative something to say about it. I never got that far, so you just get the picture instead):

"What's wrong with my daughter? I'm no long sure how to answer that ...

Sharon Hodde Miller was kind enough to promote my book on her blog, sheworships.com. For those of you who would like another preview of A Good and Perfect Gift, you can read Part One here and Part Two here.

Also, A Good and Perfect Gift is now available on Kindle. Click here to download it now.

Finally, ...

A number of you have written me to ask, "Will A Good and Perfect Gift be available on Kindle?"

YES! Unfortunately, neither I nor my publisher has any control over when Amazon will make the book available on Kindle. I have been told that it usually takes two to three weeks. I will post an announcement ...

(Update: Alice Hodgkins has won this giveaway–much thanks to Alice and all the others who helped share the news about the book!)

I am thrilled to announce the official release of my new book, A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations and a Little Girl Named Penny (Bethany House). It should be available ...

I've always assumed that if I ever wrote and published a book, I would then embark upon a cross-country book tour. Peter envisioned a Winnebago with the kids in the back, stopping in every major city from Boston to Seattle, down the West Coast, and back again. We've abandoned the Winnebago idea, and ...

They all have been, or will be, speaking at the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College. I've attended the last two Festivals, in 2008 and 2010, and this year, I will be a much-less-exciting-than-the-aforementioned-people speaker too! I'm already ordering books by the keynote speakers and others ...

One of my hopes as a writer is that I would be in conversation with people who don't see the world the way I do. I'd like to offer my perspective as a Christian in a way that encourages dialogue and invites relationship with people of other faiths, people who don't know what they believe, and people ...

The controversy over Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person who Ever Lived is fading, but a new article in the Christian Century ("Betting on a Generous God" by Peter W. Marty) brought it up for me again. I've written before about why I am sympathetic ...

When I went to the spiritual spa last week, I brought a few books with me. I've been slowly making my way through John Stott's The Cross of Christ, and I brought Tim Keller's latest, King's Cross. But I didn't open either one. Instead, I started reading Judith Shulevitz'sThe Sabbath World: Glimpses ...