Freelance writer LeAnne Benfield Martin, a member of ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors), has both a B.A. and an M.A. in English. She has written hundreds of articles that have appeared in many Christian magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman, Today’s Christian, The Lookout, HomeLife, Christian Single and others. Many of her articles also appear on several websites and on www.Crosswalk.com.
LeAnne has written about a variety of topics through the years, but she especially loves to write about the arts. In September 2006, she started a blog called Christians in the Arts. Each week on Monday and Thursday, she features artists working professionally in a variety of fields as well as art experts, enthusiasts, and educators. LeAnne’s purpose for the blog is to encourage artists who are Christians struggling to integrate their faith with their art. She also wants to help other Christians understand the value of the arts in their own lives and in becoming more involved in the arts to help reach the world for Christ.
LeAnne has a second blog called Beauty and the Beholder. Beauty is all around us—in creation, the arts, the written word, and more—but often we are too busy to see it or we take it for granted. LeAnne writes about beauty to help her audience see, recognize, and enjoy it.
In addition to writing, LeAnne does public speaking. She minored in speech in college and has since gone through both CLASS (Christian Leaders and Speakers Services) and Upper CLASS training. She often shares her testimony of how God brought good out of a dark time in her life. LeAnne also talks about how God uses both beauty and the arts to invite us into a deeper relationship with Him. Her audiences have said that her transparency and openness are refreshing.
When she’s using her gifts of writing and speaking, LeAnne feels as though she’s doing what God created her to do. To borrow from Eric Liddell of Chariots of Fire, she feels God’s pleasure. She considers it an honor to be able to communicate with others what God has done in her life, whether through the arts, through beauty, or some other avenue He chooses.
