Becky’s Bookshelves Review
Becky from Becky’s Bookshelves honored me by bringing my devotional with her on a family hike to honor her late son. She wrote a glowing review on Instagram.
Reading is My Superpower Review
Strength for My Path was reviewed by Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower. Carrie isn’t a very outdoorsy person (she calls herself indoorsy and it really cracked me up!) but she still enjoyed the devotion! Read her thoughts here.
Women Behind the Words Podcast Interview
I was recently interviewed by Deb Defek on her Women Behind the Words Podcast. She’s an author and fellow nature lover. We had a great conversation about spending time outside to intentionally be with God.
Jesus Calling Blog
I recently had a blog article go live on the Jesus Calling Blog on the subject of how nature can help us connect with God. I’m honored to be included on this well-known website and hope it will encourage more people to get outside and pray in the woods.
Catholic Connection
I had a quick chat with Jude at Catholic Connection about connecting with God in nature. Find the conversation either on YouTube or Instagram.
EcoChristian Podcast
I chatted with Caleb Cray Haynes and was on his EcoChristian Podcast. It was a lovely conversation about how Jesus went to the wild places to pray and how we can all follow his lead. Listen to the show here or find it on your favorite podcast app.
Listed on Presbyterians for Earth Care
Presbyterians for Earth Care is a wonderful organization that promotes creation care. Strength for My Path was listed on their long list of Earth Care reading.
SonderBooks Review
Sondra Elkund is a lovely librarian and blogger who I connected with recently who is also an aspiring devotional author. She recently reviewed Strength for My Path on her SonderBooks blog.
Brecksville Library Event
On March 4, I’ll be chatting about Strength for My Path at the Brecksville Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. All my books (including my fiction) will be available for purchase at the event from Mac’s Books on Coventry. I’ll be giving a talk and chatting about hiking with participants
BioLogos Article
BioLogos is a nonprofit org that connects science with faith. I love their mission and worldview. I recently adapted one of my hiking devotional entries about wetlands to contribute an article for their blog. Check it out here.
Catholic Faith Network Interview
I was interviewed by Father Gerald Gentleman on the Catholic Faith Network TV show about Strength for My Path. Here’s the link to my segment.
A Bookish Moment
I was interviewed by Sarah Burr and JC Kenney on their show, A Bookish Moment on YouTube. It was a really fun conversation about all my books.
YouVersion Strength for My Path Plan
I’m delighted to announce that YouVersion, a Bible App that I use many times a week, has accepted a five day plan that includes four of the devotions from my hiking devotional, Strength for My Path. The first day is a totally new devotion and the others are all taken from the book. To find the plan, you can search for “hiking” or “strength for my path” in the app. Or here’s a link that you can read online (you do need an account).
Make Me Available Article
I wrote a blog article for the UK-based group, Make Me Available. The blog is based on one of the entries in my hiking devotion about how the Bible is like a compass, one of my faves. Make Me Available is a wonderful brand that sells faith-based clothing like my LOVE shirt and supports charities that feed children around the world.
More Book Events
I will be at the Navarre Local Author Book Fair on October 12. I’m excited to hang out with other authors!
I will be at Celebration Church in Chardon, Ohio on September 15 at 4:00pm to do a book talk. Following my talk will be the Holden service of Prayer for the Healing of Creation at the church.
Science for the Church article
I wrote a new article for Science for the Church about how the sense of awe we feel in nature can bring us closer to God. You know my favorite way to spend time in nature is on the hiking trail and there’s a plug in the article for my hiking devotional, Strength for My Path.
Book Events!
I am leading a book publication celebration hike! It’s a bit of a wordy name but I’m excited to hike with people to celebrate the devotional coming out! We’ll meet at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, eat some book themed snacks, and talk about the book. Thursday, August 8 from 7:00-9:00pm in the evening.
Logos Bookstore in Kent, Ohio will be hosting me the week after the book comes out on Thursday, August 15 from 5:00 to 7:00pm. I used to work at this bookstore when I was in college!
Lastly, I will be at Dayspring Christian Bookstore in New Philadelphia, Ohio on Saturday, September 28 from 1:00 to 3:00pm. I used to work near New Phila so I’m hoping to see a lot of old friends there.
Strength for My Path: 52 Devotions from the Hiking Trail
My hiking devotional was accepted by BroadStreet Publishing and it will be in the world on August 6, 2024. Preorders are now up – check out the new link on my page to see the cover and read the back cover copy! I’m thrilled!
BioLogos Integrate Webinar
After helping promote the BioLogos Integrate creation care curriculum module, they asked me if I could help lead a webinar on the topic around Earth Day. I was happy to oblige and supplied a zillions idea on how to help kids connect with nature and make a positive impact for the environment.
Science for the Church Earth Day article
I’ve had this idea about Jesus and the leftover food after feeding the 5000 a few years ago. He told his disciples to gather up all the leftovers and “let nothing be wasted” which struck me about his ideas of stewardship. I have a free three day devotion about this idea and did a talk on it for Church in the Wild. This Earth Day, I expounded on it more for Science for the Church. Read the article here.
BioLogos Integrate Curriculum
BioLogos is a wonderful science and faith nonprofit. They do a lot of science education (see my article for them below!) and offer a curriculum for middle schoolers and high schooler classes. It can be used both in the classroom and at home. If you are an educator or parent wanting to help your middle schooler or high schooler connect their faith with nature, I can’t encourage you enough to check out Integrate.
Unit 12, Seeing God in Creation, is my favorite for sure. It encourages students (and the teacher!) to *wonder* at everything God has made and provided for us through his creation and to better understand how we are called to participate in God’s care for his creation through careful dominion and godly stewardship. The teacher guide states that “Wonder is responding in awe and worship when considering God’s character and works.” I couldn’t love this more!
Integrate has an entire four unit module on creation care including Seeing God in Creation, Caring for People & the Planet, Climate Change and Our Commission, and Biodiversity and Conservation.
Use promo code MAUREEN30 for 30% off your entire cart. You can purchase individual units, bundles of the three unit modules, or the entire bundle of 15 lessons.
New Hiking Devotional
I’m a person who loves to be in the woods. I’m happiest on a trail with my family. And every time we’re hiking, I always see and hear God. We have a Cleveland Metroparks all-purpose trail near our house that we’re either walking or running on it nearly every day except when it’s icy or rainy. And we love the Cuyahoga National Park and all the other trails in our area. We’ve hiked in Iceland and Pennsylvania and California and Kentucky and Utah. And so I am inspired to write a new devotion connecting faith and hiking. So far, it’s just a collection of 60 ideas paired with verses and six completed devotion entries. My wonderful agent, Linda, will be shopping it around to publishers soon.
Presbyterians for Earth Care Advent Devotion
I contributed a devotion to the annual Presbyterians for Earth Care (PEC) 2022 Advent Devotional. The overall theme of the devotional was “heaven and nature sing.” My short contribution was on December 6 with a focus on God’s transformative power in light of Isaiah 35:1-10. Find all the PEC devotions on their Worship and Devotions page.
Three Articles for Science for the Church
I’m a bit behind on posting this to the website. I wrote three articles in 2022 for Science for the Church, a nonprofit working to help churches conduct science education. My articles all focus on creation care including: Helping Your Church Make Green Choices, One Church’s Goal to Go Carbon Neutral, and How Four Churches Flourish by Caring for Creation.
BioLogos Contribution
I wrote an article for BioLogos, a nonprofit working to connect science and faith. My piece is a personal reflection on finding God in the forest. Find it here.
Climate Vigil Songs
A new worship album celebrating creation care came out this summer called Climate Vigil Songs. Many different singer-songwriters contributed to the album celebrating creation. In the accompanying worship guide, they included a devotion for each song – and guess what! I wrote one of them! Find the album, sheet music, and the worship guide on their website.
Church in the Wild Talk
On Sunday, January 9, I will be giving the main talk during the weekly service for Church in the Wild (maybe some would call it a sermon but I’m not going to)! I love the idea of a church service almost always held outside to both honor nature and the divine! The Church in the Wild congregation in Windsor, NY will be holding their services via Zoom in January and February and so I’m able to participate from afar. I’m so excited to be involved!
Here’s a link to the service if you want to watch it!
List of Resources Now Live
I know that my book and my website can never be the only resource for people of faith digging into sustainable living. There are so many groups that share this same vision and I have a good list going of these organizations on my new Resources page. I also share my favorite authoritative environmental organizations that can help readers gain a better understanding of the world around us. As always, let me know who else to add!
Another New Page: Scripture!
Are you looking for a list of creation care Bible verses? I’ve got a 31 page long list with somehow exactly 150 passages on my new Scripture page! Some of these verses celebrate creation while some give explicit direction on how to love and care for the Earth. Others encourage us to love each other and the land while other passages exclaim that God made everything. I’d love to add to the list if you think I’m missing something!
New Recommendations Page
When I started this journey of green devotion writing, I knew there was a “Green Bible” but hadn’t found any devotionals on the topic, only a few nonfiction books that I had a hard time getting through. I’m happy to share a long list of these green faith books with you – along with a few devotionals that I have finally found. I’m also sharing some of my favorite green products on my new recommendations page. My devotion differs from these books I’m recommending and I think they will all complement each other well. Let me know what you think and what I’ve missed!
Signed with an Agent
Tremendous news! In February 2021, I signed a contract with Hartline Literary Agency to represent this book project. Linda Glaz will be my agent and I’m thrilled to work with the company! She is in the process of pitching the idea to publishers.
It Started with 21
When I started writing this book, I had three weeks of devotions – 21 daily reading topics. After rejection notices from over 20 agents, I agreed to expand my devotional book to make it longer and more marketable. As of December 2020, I hit 54 devotions and I kind of can’t believe I wrote that many!
Subjects in the Book So Far
I’m hard at work writing more entries for my creation care devotion. I’m so thrilled to be writing it! Here’s the deal: almost a decade ago, my sweet friend Elizabeth and I were looking for a devotional to work through together. We are both into the environment and wanted to find a book connecting environmental/ sustainability issues and God. We looked and looked and never found anything that fit what we wanted. There are many nonfiction books on the subject and there’s a group Bible study by Blessed Earth, a devotion for kids, and devotions about nature but nothing was exactly what we wanted. And so in early 2020, I decided that I’d just write it myself! I have been writing about green lifestyle topics for years and have worked in the environmental field for over 15 years. I’m not looking for this book to be THE sustainability devotion but as far as I know, it’ll be the first! I’ve got about half the book done and would love to connect with you on topics you’d like to see covered! Here are a few in there so far: God created the world and it’s his, Zero waste/ low waste, recycling, animal habitat, the water cycle, loving your neighbor, Adam and Eve in Eden, what happened right after the flood, caring for the least of these, space: sun, moon, stars, environmental stewardship, greed… and more!
Maureen Wise Books 
