A country girl, I grew up in the 1950s, a time that has been called idyllic by some and grossly intolerant by others. As for me, I was called naïve by friends and family. When only fifteen, however, I traveled to Italy as a foreign-exchange student where I lived with a kind and protective Sicilian family of six brothers and one sister. It was during that summer I began to grow up, to appreciate our cultural differences, and to see that - despite those differences - we shared many common values. Travel has that effect on people. Whether we go from one country to another or from one stage of life to the next, the trip increases our knowledge and, hopefully, our understanding of other ways of life. I write to address our common values. Don't we all want to be loved and accepted? Don't we all seek meaning and purpose? Don't we all need hope? Over the years I’ve had the privilege of working and praying with hundreds of women in churches and in crisis settings. Through these ministries, I have grown in my admiration for womankind in general. Our world has changed dramatically, and we’ve been expected to change right along with it. In many ways, we’ve been successful—in some ways, we have a lot of work to do. Often, the best work is simply to hold fast to the unchanging values presented in Scripture. I live in Central Oregon and am an active member of ACFW and Cascade Christian Writers (formerly Oregon Christian Writers).
Dear Julie is a biblically-based advice column. For decades I was privileged to be in a position of leadership in women's ministry in churches as well as in Christian non-profit ministries and speakers bureaus. There, I earned the trust of thousands of women facing crises in their personal lives as well as on the front lines of ministry work. In addition, I hosted the Dear Julie column on Facebook where 14,000+ followers consulted me for advice. We all face challenging issues that confound us. There is no shame in seeking advice. Please be brave. By sending in your questions, you may be helping other readers. Be assured Dear Julie will search the scriptures and pray over your question before answering. Your name will be deleted to protect your confidentiality. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Send your questions to Dear Julie on the Contact Page.
BIG NEWS: My series of four standalone books is about to be published. Thanks for your patience. More info to come! In the meantime, those of you who love the PSALMS will enjoy reading "A String of Selah Pearls," a series of devotionals dealing with the Selah passages. Perhaps POETRY is your jam. I have journals filled with my own poetry, hymns, and meditations to share with you as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be informed as books are published as well as to receive a free sample chapter and my monthly newsletter, please subscribe in the box on the Home page.