Hey there, and welcome in.
I’m Bethany J.
The “J” stands for Johnna, after my dad— John. I like that, because I think my calling as a writer is a little like John the Baptist’s, whose words went out into the wilderness and cried, “Something better is coming!” I long to bear witness to something more real than the darkness, namely, the Light of the World.
The good truth is that we’re bound for a better country, a heavenly one (Heb. 11:16).
In the meantime, I believe writing itself is an act of incarnation. I believe that with the Spirit’s breath, words can become flesh and rise up and walk out Jesus’s love for the folks who read them. I believe writing is a way I fulfill what I was made to do: Glorify God and enjoy him forever.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
~ John 1:14
So I write about oak trees, tomatoes, winter storms, the local church, killing sin, and resurrection— to name a few.
I think theology – a head and heart knowledge of God – flows right into the river we call everyday, ordinary life. Incarnation and justification aren’t abstract doctrines for theology textbooks. They’re realities that work themselves into the bread we bake, the gardens we plant, and the neighbors we show hospitality toward. Eternity in all its incomprehensible glory begins today, on Tuesday morning.
This is all to say that, through my writing, I seek to find intersection— that place where God’s Word meets his beautiful world.
Experts in the craft say to “write what you know,” so I’m looking for the Triune God in the corner of earth I know best – a place called Edgewood Road, where the summers are as thick as honey and the acorns drop every September.
I hope you’ll join me, and I hope this place feels like your grandma’s kitchen— where the light comes in and stories get shared.
In Jesus’s grace,
bethany j.
(P.S. If you’d like to be notified of new blog posts, you can get weekly mail from me here. You’ll also receive a free PDF copy of my booklet, The Cape Cod Letters!)
Essays & Sketches:
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
~ Ecclesiastes 3:11
“I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death… I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others do the same.”
~ C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
bethanyjmelton.com 