Sarah Koops Vanderveen is a surf mom, writer, blogger and member of Redbud Writers Guild. She is the former editor of The Mars Hill Review, a literary journal focused on the intersection of faith and culture. She lives in Laguna Beach,Calf., with her husband and their two teenage sons. Read more by Sarah at her blog, "Once by the Pacific."
Posts By This Author
Waxing Poetic: One Perfect Hour
Sarah Vanderveen heads in from surfing in her hometown.
A new poem by Sarah Vanderveen...
I pulled on my wetsuit
quick, quick
pausing to take note
of a new hole under the left arm, darnit
and paddled out.
Waxing Poetic: The Painting Lesson, and a Prayer
Photo by Sarah Vanderveen.
A new poem by Sarah Vanderveen
The Painting Lesson, and a PrayerTwo women in hats,
feet solidly planted in the damp grass,
lean toward a canvas
propped against an easel.
One woman dabs intently with a brush,
the other looks out at the ocean,
then makes a staccato gesture--
He Said, She Said: Driscoll's "Real Marriage" is Really Not
Real Marriage by Mark and Grace Driscoll
HE SAID: David Vanderveen
Real marriages develop from two people who are committed to making them work. The specifics of how two real people make one real marriage work is largely irrelevant given the freedom we have in Christ. Marriage is supposed to be a symbol of our relationship with God on earth.
We don’t need more multiple choice tests and true-and-false quizzes with black-and-white answers to bring heaven to earth; we need to put the love of the other first — with God at the core — to make our marriages work.
SHE SAID: Sarah Vanderveen
Real Marriage is a poorly written, poorly researched book by a well-meaning pastor who I believe is struggling with his own sexuality and sense of self-worth. I don’t know how else to explain his weirdly inappropriate fixation on masculinity and specific sexual practices, and his failure to address the complexity of human sexuality and relationships.
It feels to me like he doesn’t really want to understand the whole person, rather he just wants to cut straight to the salacious tidbits. I realize that’s how you sell a lot of books, but still. I get the distinct impression that Driscoll is not a man at peace.
Waxing Poetic: Blue Christmas
Mussels. Photo by Sarah Vanderveen.
Waxing Poetic: The Great Gatsby Revisited As Audiobook
With her teenage son reading The Great Gatsby for school, poet Sarah Vanderveen revisits Fitzgerald's masterpiece, this time as an audio experience.