How the Cross Defeats My Victimhood
There’s a fundamental difference between true victimhood and a victim mentality. A victim mentality is adopted, even when that person is not actually a victim of hurt or abuse. It is characterized by a “life is against me” attitude. This mentality is limiting; it keeps a person from living out their potential.
This post is not in reference to true victims of abuse. If that’s you, please find counseling and mentorship, a safe place to find healing and to work through your past. What this post deals with is a victim identity and mentality; victimhood as a lifestyle. There are several ways to identify this in a person, and following are four consequences of living in defeat instead of overcoming by the power of God.
God Doesn’t Need Your Platform, Period.
From the very beginning of my blogging “career”, I committed to never pursue numbers. As hobby became part time job and now a supplemental income for our family, I have been constantly tempted by the appeal of the numbers game. While I certainly educate myself about marketing, social media trends, and blogging issues, I continue to prayerfully remain faithful to what I knew was necessary at the beginning: To write truth and write it well, whether or not anyone reads it.
15 Bible Study Resources to Take You Deeper in the Word
Everyone wants to know my list of recommended bible study resources. Though plenty of bloggers have written about this same topic, every list is different based on the needs and bible study habits of the individual. Not everyone has a religion degree like I do, but everyone does have access to the same resources I use to study the bible and teach it to my readers. You don’t need a ministry degree to be a faithful student of God’s word!
What’s Saving My Life This February
February in Michigan is one of those in-between months where people start complaining about the length of winter (let’s be real: that’s every month of winter in Michigan!). Since we can anticipate a solid nine more weeks of winter, possibly more, we have to get creative in February when it comes to activities and making the cold more liveable.
Maybe Your Married Friends Know What They’re Talking About
A few months ago I challenged married people to stop alienating their single friends. The relationship between married and single believers has, for many years, been anywhere on the spectrum from awkward to hostile. Singles feel left out and set up by their married...
Jesus Was Not a Feminist (And Maybe You Shouldn’t Be Either)
If you Google “feminism”, it has a simple definition: “The advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.”
That sounds like common sense, and it is.
29 and Single: When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned
There I was at 29, getting dangerously close to that next milestone birthday, feeling lost and wondering desperately what in the world was going on with my life.
Being 29 and single, especially in the South, will make you question everything. It will make you question if God is paying attention to you, like He seems to be your friends. It might make you question if you screwed up along the way and this prolonged season of singleness if just a form of punishment. It could even make you question if God loves you
How to Stop Giving Up in Leviticus
I used to struggle with these same sentiments toward the Pentateuch – those first five books of the bible so full of law (and sometimes confusion!). In my rush to find something I could “apply” in thirty minutes or less, I missed out on beautiful theological truths hidden in this unlikely book.
What to Do With That Confusing Bible Passage
This week, Lisa and I tackle the idea of interpreting Bible passages well. We want to be faithful to the Scripture and what they actually mean and that requires intentional study. We share five questions to ask before you decide that your interpretation of a Bible passage is correct. We also include some helpful thoughts on Bible study.
Real Men Drive Trucks: Misconceptions About Biblical Masculinity
Facebook comment streams are a dangerous place, but I find myself drawn into them, almost unable to resist. Perusing the argumentative stream on a blog post recently, I saw a theme emerge. The post was discussing modern Christian men. The comment thread was peppered with descriptions of masculinity: Words like leadership, protection, providing, littered the discussion. But in equal number were comments decrying the existence of man-buns and murses, guys who don’t hunt and drive a Prius – as if biblical masculinity required a certain haircut and hobby list.
Mama, Embrace Your Not-So-Quiet Time
I’m reading the bible chronologically this year. Every morning finds my clunky, awkward journaling bible propped halfway between an armchair and an endtable, coffee spilling with each elbow bump as I turn pages with one hand and hold my nursing baby with the other. Sometimes my eyes are so heavy I can’t remember which part of the Tabernacle I was reading about two minutes before. Sometimes I re-read a passage three times as my two-year-old interrupts with tears or toys.
What I Lost When I Got Married
We’re told, when we get married, we can accomplish more together than we ever could on our own. That when two become one, marriage is greater than the sum of its parts.
But what they don’t tell you is that marriage isn’t just the gain of a partner; it also involves loss.
Weary in the Center of God’s Will
I think we need to look at tiredness differently; not as a bragging right, not as a complaint, not as anything but a human reality. Because to be tired is to be human. To be tired is to have done good work in a fallen world.
More American Than Christian: 5 Things to Learn from Liberty University’s President
Liberty University has always been political.
It was political thirty years ago. It was political my sophomore year of 2009. It was political for all five years of my career on campus. And, as we saw in the news this week, it has remained political to this day.
Is the “Better Person” You’re Becoming the One Jesus Wants?
Most goals are about improving ourselves. We want to lose weight, eat well, improve family relationships, and read more. None of these things are wrong. But when we look across the goals we set as people of God we should ask ourselves: Why all the self-improvement? Is this what Christians are called to pursue?
Thanks, Eve: Perspectives on the Curse of Genesis
For 2018, Lisa and I are introducing a few changes to the podcast – Uniquely Woman! There’s new podcast art and a new tagline: Inviting women to biblically challenge the status quo. We’re going to dive into some deep subjects where we might have answers – or we might be asking questions, both equipping us to better live out our faith.
Dear Marrieds: Stop Alienating Your Single Friends
“I feel like married people are on a different plane.” Some version of that sentence enters my inbox on a monthly basis.
My married friends don’t have time for me anymore.
When my friends couple up, they start treating me like a project – just because I’m single.
I’m sad my best friend is getting married because it means I’m going to lose her.
A Biblical Approach to Body Shame
For the last episode of Uniquely Woman in 2017, Lisa and I are jumping back in for a full-length episode on body image. We tackle what the Bible says the body is, lies we believe about our bodies, and how we each work on overcoming body image issues.
What to Do About a Non-committal Boyfriend
After dating over two years, this reader’s boyfriend still isn’t sure he wants to move forward toward marriage. What’s a girl to do?
Can a Wife Spiritually Lead Her Husband?
When we met and first married, my husband knew much less about the Bible than I did. I’d just spent four years getting a degree in religion from our Christian alma mater; his degree is in engineering. I’d just spent 24 years being discipled by parents who intentionally taught me the Word of God; he’d committed to following Christ wholeheartedly in the last three years. We entered marriage equally yoked in love for God and desire to serve Him, but I was, and still am, the more biblically-knowledgeable person of our pair.
Is Online Dating a Lack of Trust in God?
I often speak to Christian women frustrated by the lack of dating options in their circle of peers. They’ve tried involvement in their communities, joining new groups and clubs, and even switching churches to surround themselves with people their age – and still, women outnumber men 3:1! But when I suggest they consider online dating, I am universally received with shock. “Doesn’t that mean I’m not trusting God?” They ask.
“Absolutely not!” I answer – and this post explains why!
10 Must-Read Posts for Young Christian Wives
If you’re one of the many young wives in my blog community, this is for you! The first two years of marriage are a season of incredible transition. Young wives sometimes struggle to communicate with their new husband, to understand their own emotions, and to navigate the new waters of home management and intimacy.
Worth the Wait: Geneva’s Home Birth Story
The little girl cooing in the bassinet joined us only four weeks ago, but with each passing day we love her more than the one before. Geneva Anne joined us on October 21st. She took her time getting here, and judging by her personality so far, that will be par for the course (unlike her sister Adeline, who had to be two weeks early and continues to operate on a packed social schedule and abundant extroversion). As I finally sit down to share her birth story, I see the grace of God for her specific entry into the world – the same way Adeline’s birth was the grace we needed for that season.
How I Study the Bible: Step by Step
Last week I shared a little glimpse of my bible study routine on Uniquely Woman. But if you’re like me, sometimes you need to see it in writing! My bible study routine has changed over the years. As I shared in this post, worship doesn’t look the same as it did when I was a single, working professional – or even when I was first married.