Carrying Light Together: What Happens When Young Writers Are Given Space to Create

Over the past year, storytelling has quietly become one of the most life-giving rhythms in our Rooted Minds community.

What began as conversations around short stories on the podcast slowly turned into something more. We found ourselves lingering over sentences, returning to images, asking better questions—not just about plot, but about meaning. Stories gave us language for hope, courage, loss, and faith in ways that lectures never quite can. They made room for wonder.

So when we began talking about hosting a short story contest, we wanted to create space for young writers to practice paying attention, to take creative risks, and to explore what it looks like for light to break into dark places.

Why Light in the Darkness?

The theme came easily. Scripture has always framed our imagination, and John 1:5 has long been a quiet anchor for us: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

But we weren’t interested in prescribing how that light should appear. We didn’t ask for a specific genre or tone. We simply invited writers to respond—to interpret, imagine, wrestle, and create.

What we received in return surprised us.

What We Saw in the Stories

Andy led the contest and read every submission. As the stories came in, one thing became immediately clear: these writers were not treating the theme lightly. There was a seriousness of heart, a reverence for truth, and a deep desire to reflect the Lord’s light honestly—not sentimentally, not cheaply, but thoughtfully.

Some stories were adventurous. Some were quiet. And some unfolded in moments of crisis; others in slow realizations. Each one carried its own kind of light.

Esther Hawley’s winning story, “While the Light Fades,” stayed with us because of how fully it immersed the reader in a bleak, wounded landscape—and then dared to linger at the moment when hope returns. A sunrise. A shift. A reminder that even the faintest light changes everything.

The finalist stories—by Jenna Banister, Charity Gardner, Sydney Riley, and Grayson Powell—each drew out the theme in unexpected ways, revealing courage, endurance, and creativity shaped by faith and imagination. And beyond the finalists, every submission added something meaningful to the whole.

That is where the title came from: The Light We Carry Together.

Not because the light originates with us—but because it is shared, reflected, and strengthened in community.

More Than a Contest

This project reminded us why we care so deeply about writing—not as performance, but as formation.

Writing invites us to slow down.

To notice.

To name what is true.

For young writers especially, it becomes a place where faith and imagination meet, where questions are allowed, and where beauty is taken seriously. Through this contest, we saw writers grow not only in craft, but in confidence—the courage to offer their words to others.

That felt worth celebrating.

The Anthology

The Light We Carry Together: A Rooted Minds Anthology gathers sixteen voices from our community into one shared collection. It is not a polished statement about having everything figured out. It is a testimony to creativity practiced faithfully and courageously.

This book exists to honor the writers who stepped forward.

To remind young readers that their voices matter.

And to bear witness to the truth that darkness does not get the final word.

If you’re a parent, educator, or mentor, we hope this anthology encourages you to make room for creativity in the lives of the young people you love. If you’re a young writer yourself, we hope it invites you to keep writing—to keep paying attention—to keep carrying light.

And if you’re part of the Rooted Minds family, thank you. This book belongs to all of us.

You can find The Light We Carry Together now through Lulu.

We’re grateful to carry this light together—and excited to see where it leads next.