Kara Lassen Oliver is executive director of The Upper Room Center for Christian Spiritual Formation. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Oliver and her family (husband, Jeff, and children, Claire Marin and Carter) spent two years in Malawi, Africa, as Volunteers in Mission. Oliver is the author of Passing It On: How to Nurture Your Child's Faith Season by Season and the compiler of Stepping Out on Your Own: Devotions for High School Graduates and Meeting the Messiah: Scriptures for the Advent Season. Oliver has served Discipleship Resources International, part of Discipleship Ministries, as director of publishing initiatives in the Central Conferences. She spent several years as a freelance editor and writer and was youth minister at Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville from 2003?2006. She holds a master of divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School and a bachelor of arts in religious studies from Butler University.