Christian

On Being Uncommon

by Laree Lindburg, owner/manager Electric Moon Publishing, LLC and Signal Speakers


Do you ever feel different, out-of-place, odd? Possibly you have felt as though you didn’t fit in with the crowd? The thing is, we are all different and made to be just that—unique and one-of-a-kind. But often times we don’t embrace this truth about who and how God has created us. Instead, we insist on being the same. Cookie-cutter. Common.

Carey Scott’s newest book Uncommon: Living a Life of Purpose and Pursuit takes the reader on an explorative journey. Using actual examples from Scripture, Carey builds a case that those of us who feel different are actually supposed to feel exactly so because we are meant to be uncommon—and in God’s point-of-view it’s all good.

Being uncommon contradicts the world. The world insists we stay in our weakness and worry dependent upon nothing or no one but ourselves. This leads to sure and steady failure. Which is exactly what the world wants! To be uncommon is to lift up our eyes to the mountains where our help comes from the Lord the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121: 1,2).

We can and should be uncommon in the areas of courage, forgiveness, generosity, obedience, leadership and more. “Fear is a virus,” Carey writes on page 38, “that spreads, and so often it’s what keeps us from choosing the uncommon way.” On page 47 she continues. “But regardless, having the uncommon courage to overcome fears and live different than the status quo takes guts and grit. And God.”

Uh, does anybody else feel like Carey just jumped into your head with a notepad and pencil, wrote down your inner thoughts then published them? And that, friends, is who Carey Scott is. A wife, mother, writer, speaker, and child of the Most High God who does not mince words. She loves Jesus. Studies the Bible because she longs to know her Creator. She’s genuine—the real deal in a world of plastic pretenders. She is uncommon.

And I think I’d like to join her.


This post was inspired by the book Uncommon: Living a Life of Purpose and Pursuit by Carey Scott. You can learn more about the book and order at http://careyscott.org/uncommon/.

The Nudge Part 2: Master Nudger

By Jeannie McPherson, EMoon Author


With dreams, come nightmares. Not that we necessarily want them, realistically they happen. When God nudges us toward and through our dreams, we celebrate and express thankfulness. After many decades, I realize God also nudges through nightmares. After all, I don’t do a very good job thanking God when life is difficult.      

Test-taking was not just figuratively a nightmare for my young self, I had nightmares about the real thing. Writing was my academic salvation and more than once my letter grade went from a B to an A or even a C to a B when essays were a major component of a course. My first college English class was a disaster and no number of nudges were going to help me learn grammar, in all its confusing glory. In other academic areas, professors liked my unique way of expressing thoughts, facts, opinions, or positions. But, I still struggled through test taking.

My first graduate class required writing an essay question on why I would be a good school principal.  In no fewer than 10 rewrites, I shared my story precisely, concisely, and convincingly, to the extent the professor wrote, “You need to write and publish.” Writing was again the easy part.  In my career, I was typically successful writing grants, memos, and emails. In my personal life, I wrote Christmas letters and short stories and dabbled with a few manuscripts, but the word publish was as scary as test taking and nightmares. The word written on a note card was just… a nudge a long time ago.  

I found my career path, and soon started a family. I had fulfilled all the dreams I had conjured up, except for one; becoming a published writer. Retirement brought new opportunities but nothing that pushed me to attempt to concur the publishing world. For fun, I took a week-long writing class with a published author at my alma mater, the University of Nebraska. The writing I submitted brought me more positive compliments and assignments, like “write every day at least 550 words.” We discussed how to get an editor’s attention, thoughts on self-publishing, and lots of “stick with it, you can do it.” All these were nudges, but apparently, these were not enough to fulfill the dream of holding a book with the author’s name, Rogene McPherson.

In April 2015, God connected me with Rebecca, also a writer and survivor of personal tragedy. The complexity of this meeting could have only been organized by God and His angels. This nudge was not subtle. God definitely sent me a message that day. Then only a year later, God was at work, again at Christian Writer’s Conference in Omaha, when I met Laree Lindburg and her sister Erin with Electric Moon Publishing. I was immediately impressed by what Emoon could offer me:

  • Wide basis of technology without my becoming a techie, a valuable asset in the writing world
  • Multitude of services provided by Christian sisters including an editor and illustrator
  • Consistent support even when the proverbial nightmares interfered
  • Honest and educationally sound support when needed

I better stop before I sound like a marketing expert trying to get a job. I really only want to write. All of the Emoon Team providing the support indicated above have been like a gentle nudge. God in my world has a new name, Master Nudger.