Thanks for wanting to share your story and creativity with Velvet Ashes!

We are a community of women living and serving abroad–and we would love for you to offer your words here. We’ll be richer for hearing from you.

We believe truth and hope are best shared through story. And the power of story lies in authentic vulnerability fueled by love. As you prepare a post for Velvet Ashes you may want to read What is Velvet Ashes, We are Women Who, and Responsible, Ethical Storytelling. Poke around to get a sense for what this community is all about.

We sit with a theme for the whole month. There will be one blog post per week, which will give more time to ponder together. Openings for submissions are more limited than they have been in the past when we had 3-4 posts per week. 

The questions and suggestions following each prompt are merely ideas to get you going. Feel free to take your own unique angle on the prompt. Themes with openings are listed below.  

Facing Fear (due September 21): For women serving cross-culturally, fear can take many forms: fear of failure, loneliness, danger, burnout, disappointing others, or not knowing what comes next. We may fear for our children, our finances, our visas, our communities—or wonder whether staying or leaving is the more faithful choice. How has your understanding of courage changed over time?

A Generous Life (due October 18): We’re exploring generosity in all its forms: money, time, attention, hospitality, encouragement, collaboration, grace, and even the courage to receive. We’ll consider the difference between abundance and scarcity, generosity and overgiving, sacrifice and unhealthy expectations. Who has been unexpectedly generous toward you? Perhaps a supporter, local friend, neighbor, church, colleague, or stranger. What did their generosity teach you about God, community, or receiving?

Inviting Wonder (due November 15): We’re making space for awe, mystery, curiosity, and unanswered questions. For the ordinary moments that still surprise us. For the beauty we almost missed. For the God who meets us in both certainty and mystery. How has living cross-culturally changed the way you experience Christmas? What traditions, people, places, or unexpected circumstances have helped you see the Christmas story differently?

Your submission should:

• Be approximately 600-900 words.
• Be submitted as a Word doc or docx only.
• Include your name and the title of your post in the document itself as well as in the doc title (example: Sarah Doe – Post Title Here.doc). We do accept pseudonyms as required by context or location.
• Be original content. We publish content that has not been published elsewhere, including personal blogs.
• Be aware that essays for online publication need only one space after periods/full stops. This will save us loads of time in the editing process.
• Conclude with a reflective question to invite conversation in the comments.
• Include a headshot and personal bio. Headshots should be attached (not in the body of your submission) and no larger than 600 x 600 px. Bios should be 100 words or less, telling us a bit about you, but mostly drawing readers to feel a connection to you. Please include all your social media hyperlinks so that readers can connect with you and so we can tag you when we share your post.

Please send your submission to Sarah at: submissions (at) velvetashes (dot) com

We do have limited spots available. If selected for publication, posts may be edited for length and clarity. We do not offer compensation for published work.

In addition to full-length blog posts, we also have up to four spots per month for micro-blogs! Published on our social media sites, micro-blogs are 200-300 words related to the monthly topic. Micro-blog submissions should be succinct and well-written. Send your micro-blog submissions to the address above! 

We look forward to reading and prayerfully considering your piece. If you don’t hear from us immediately, please don’t be alarmed. We’ll be in touch!

Thank you for the gift of your story,

– The Velvet Ashes Team