• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • The words
  • The writer
  • The work

Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

The writer

Photo by Rachel Lynn Photography

Hi, I’m Lisa. I’m a wife and mom, incurably curious, in search of the Kingdom in everyday life, and a lover of words.

I’ve been filling notebooks (you know, those things before computers) with stories for as long as I can remember, forcing my tales on anyone willing to read them. I’ve also filled journals with hundreds of thousands of words that nobody will ever read. After college, I worked as a journalist for almost a decade before taking on the new challenge of motherhood.

No matter what I’m writing, I have one goal: I write to remember. My journals are the written history of my feelings and thoughts. As a journalist, I was recording local history. I started a blog to help me navigate all the milestones of being a parent (and to keep the grandparents updated on our lives), and it’s become so much more. My in-progress fiction aims to tell untold stories.

“Beauty on the Backroads” is not only the title of my blog but the theme of my heart. You can read more about the meaning behind it here. In short, I’m a get-to-where-we’re-going kind of person. I had certain expectations for my life and how I thought it would turn out, and when I experienced some detours and unexpected road work, I had to find a way to see the beauty in all of that. The highway might be the quickest way to get somewhere, but the scenic route is almost always more enjoyable. In this space, I talk about what I’m seeing on the scenic routes of life, how I happen on the roads less traveled, and what life looks like from the slow lane. My interests are varied and so are my thoughts, but it’s my hope that this theme comes through.

When I’m not writing stories, I’m reading them. I love sitting outside on the porch with a cup of coffee and a book (or my laptop or Kindle) getting lost in stories, both true and made-up. Spring and fall are my favorite seasons, when my soul breathes a little sigh of relief.

I’m glad you’re here. Stay as long as you like.

Primary Sidebar

Photo by Rachel Lynn Photography

Welcome

Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

When I wrote something

June 2025
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  
« Jun    

Recent posts

  • Still Life
  • A final round-up for 2022: What our December was like
  • Endings and beginnings … plus soup: A November wrap-up
  • A magical month of ordinary days: October round-up
  • Stuck in a shallow creek
  • Short and sweet September: a monthly round-up
  • Wrapping the end of summer: Our monthly round-up

Join the conversation

  • A magical month of ordinary days: October round-up on Stuck in a shallow creek
  • Stuck in a shallow creek on This is 40
  • July was all about vacation (and getting back to ordinary days after)–a monthly roundup on One very long week

Footer

What I write about

Looking for something?

Disclosure

Lisa Bartelt is a participant in the Bluehost Affiliate Program.

Occasionally, I review books in exchange for a free copy. Opinions are my own and are not guaranteed positive simply due to the receipt of a free copy.

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in