Why do you write? It's something my husband asks me regularly. As a Christian, I feel it's important to constantly check my heart motives on why I write. People are built to pursue things and have a passion for things, but we run into trouble when we pursue these things to gain exaltation from people rather than pursuing them to bring glory to God. As a writer publishing and seeking publication, I have to be careful and be kept accountable on my purposes and goals. I'm ambitious and it's part of my personality to try hard—so I have to have Bryan, my husband, there to ask me, "Why do you want this?"

Being a writer can be complicated as a Christian—poetry is written, ultimately, to be Read, so seeking publication is a natural next-step. I think publishing, on the surface, looks like an egotistical act—getting your name out there, making much of yourself. Personally, if I ever start to have the problem where I can't publish without my pride going crazy, then I'll have to stop publishing.

When I submit my writing to a magazine or to a press, I do it with the thought that if my writing were to be accepted, it would glorify God because I'm a Christian and I'm using my talents to the best of my ability—and my writing will reach more readers, and a more diverse group of readers, than it would if I kept it at home on my laptop. My hope is that those who read my writing will see my perspective on the world, and see the hope in it.

I think, with writing, it isn't so obvious to other people when the writer is writing to bring God glory—not as obvious as a singer singing hymns. My poems rarely overtly mention God—but, being born again, I believe that my perspective on the world and on life is inherently different from that of a non-Christian.

It seems that a lot of Christians don't think their art or their writing or their music can be Christian unless it is evangelistic—if it doesn't mention the name of Jesus, it's obviously secular. If it isn't upbeat, it's secular. If it doesn't outline the way to salvation, it's secular.

I don't believe that all of my poems have to be evangelistic or happy little odes to be Christian—if you look to the Bible for an example of what God-glorifying poetry is, you find the Psalms and Ecclesiastes. Is Ecclesiastes a cheery, happy-go-lucky book? Not at all! Ecclesiastes 1:2 says, "'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Teacher. 'Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.'" I also believe that the Psalms show the entire range of human emotion, from despair to joy (see: Psalm 6, 8).

I think Christians are more than allowed to write about despair and suffering, hardship and depression, happiness and every other human emotion we experience. I think that the more we write about, the less we censor the emotions that aren't "Christian" enough to be written about, the more we can show the world how a Christian views and goes through those emotions. And when they look at the body of work of a Christian poet, they'll see the hope there.