Michelle Bolanger Blog
Setting Goals That Bend Pt 2.
With book events, holiday commitments, and two manuscripts I need to finish, I am already deep into planning for the final three months of 2026. That is so crazy to write, but it is proof that time flies, and if I don’t have a plan in place time will get away from me and nothing will get done.
However, while I need a structured plan to keep me focused, I also need to build in flexibility that allows for life’s inevitable interruptions. I have been able to do that for my personal life, but creating a bendable plan for business can be a bit trickier. Because the events are fixed dates but life rarely is, I have to build in wiggle room where I can.
Setting Goals That Bend Pt. 1
It’s hard to believe 2026 is more than half over! It seems like just a few days ago, I was finalizing the edits of Not My Hero, and now it’s three weeks past launch! It has been several years since I published a new book, and I’d nearly forgotten all the things that have to be done to have a successful release.
I thought I was well prepared, but things still caught me off guard, and as I’m reviewing the months leading up to this launch, I’m taking note of how I could have planned things differently.
Remaining Steadfast Through Seasons of Depression Pt. 2
The Bible doesn’t present suffering as evidence that God has abandoned His people. It doesn’t pretend faithful people never feel this kind of despair. In fact, many of the most important people in Scripture walked through seasons of intense sorrow, fear, grief, weariness, and emotional collapse.
Elijah was so exhausted and afraid that he sat under a broom tree and asked God to take his life.
David poured out his anguish in the Psalms and asked God how long He would hide His face.
Paul wrote honestly about being afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down.
Naomi was so overcome by grief and loss that she asked the women around her not to call her Naomi anymore, but Mara, because she believed the Almighty had dealt bitterly with her.
And Jesus Himself was described as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
Their stories don’t teach us that depression is failure. They teach us that God can be trusted in the middle of suffering and that despair doesn’t disqualify us from being loved by God. They remind us that when God’s people are weak, He doesn’t turn away in disgust. He draws near.
Remaining Steadfast Through Seasons of Depression Pt. 1
The Bible doesn’t present suffering as evidence that God has abandoned His people. It doesn’t pretend faithful people never feel this kind of despair. In fact, many of the most important people in Scripture walked through seasons of intense sorrow, fear, grief, weariness, and emotional collapse.
Elijah was so exhausted and afraid that he sat under a broom tree and asked God to take his life.
David poured out his anguish in the Psalms and asked God how long He would hide His face.
Paul wrote honestly about being afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down.
Naomi was so overcome by grief and loss that she asked the women around her not to call her Naomi anymore, but Mara, because she believed the Almighty had dealt bitterly with her.
And Jesus Himself was described as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”
Their stories don’t teach us that depression is failure. They teach us that God can be trusted in the middle of suffering and that despair doesn’t disqualify us from being loved by God. They remind us that when God’s people are weak, He doesn’t turn away in disgust. He draws near.
word of the YEAR
Every October or November, I begin to pray about what my Word of the Year will be for the upcoming year.
When Happy Holidays Aren’t.
Helping you find peace and joy amidst the most stressful time of the year.
Just You Wait!
Waiting isn’t something most of us are inherently good at.
the JOY of the LORD
Have you ever had a horrible day? Like the kind of day where no matter how hard you try, nothing seems to go right?
Remember Your Calling
I love to write, and I believe God has gifted me with stories that will both entertain and give hope, but what I struggle with is marketing.
The Creative’s Rest
This year has been full of activity. In the spring, I began the process of rebranding my author platform and worked through a deep dive of who I’ve been, who I want to be, and how I plan to get there.
God and Goose Poop
God is with us even in the hardest, messiest places, and His timing is ALWAYS perfect.
Slowing Down By Accident
Sometimes God takes drastic steps to remind me not to get ahead of myself, or Him!
Not One Day Too Soon
Look closely at the present you are constructing. It should look like the future you are dreaming. - Alice Walker
Overnight successes usually aren’t. There are months and years of work that often go unnoticed and unrecognized. In today’s world with 24 hour news, instant updates via every social media outlet imaginable, fast food, pizza delivery, and cellphones there seems little reason to wait for anything.
Tearing Down Idols
For 20 years, from the time I came to stand on the solid stone Foundation called Christ, I built the structure of my Christian life using someone else’s plans, materials, and methods. I built a life and set the rhythm for my faith by relying on other people’s vision for my life. I trusted them to know what God wanted for me because they had known the Lord longer, and they were in a position of authority over me.
After committing my life to Him, I was desperate to know Jesus, and in my desire to know Him, I blindly followed another human who seemed to know so much more about God and what it meant to be His follower than I did. I allowed this human to define what my walk with Him should look like. I ended up confused, depressed, anxious, and oppressed.
Thankfully, my God is a jealous God, and He will not allow anyone else to sit on the throne of my life. And so, He moved me out from under that person’s authority and tore down every structure that was not built by Him in my life. Every piece of framework I had put up to support and shape the structure and rhythm of my faith was left lying in rubble around me.
Beautiful Beginnings
I’ve heard a quote that says something like, “If you want God to laugh, tell Him your plans.”
I don’t know about you, but thinking the God I’ve entrusted my life to laughs at my ideas feels more than a bit condescending. And that’s not the kind of god I would ever want to trust.
Rather, I think He is more likely to say, “I know the plans I have for you. Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11