How to Make Godly Media Choices
Does what we watch really matter? There are days I wish it didn't. There are days I wish I could listen to whatever music made the Top 40 this week, or that I could watch the latest movie raved about by my online acquaintances. Truthfully, I can do these things. I...
5 Myths About Marital Sexuality {Part 1}
Too many Christian girls come to their wedding day with an incomplete or inaccurate sexual education. They don't know the difference between secular propaganda and biblical design. It's because of this that Lisa and I are starting our discussion about sex this week....
10 Ways This Generation Can Recover Their Ability to Be In Love
If you cruise through social media I think you'll agree that love - the kind of Andy Griffith shows and your great-grandparents - is seen as unrealistic and "fake". Today's #relationshipgoals are more about appearance than substance. We admire the adventurous, exotic,...
Can Physical Fitness Be a Spiritual Discipline?
I used to say I'd never marry a man who liked to exert himself. Hiking, biking, and walking were my dad's "homeschool P.E" - and there was no class I liked less. If I could avoid exerting myself, I would. Fast forward to college, where late night pints of Haagen-Daaz...
My Marriage Will Always Come Before My Kids
My marriage will always come before my kids. It’s a vow I made on my wedding day and it’s a vow I’m living in the every day. It’s a promise to guard my heart, attitudes, and words toward my husband – my daughter’s father – because her happiness depends on it.
How to Honor Legalistic Parents
Legalistic parenting is common not because parents hold ill-will toward their children, but because legalism is the easy route. It’s much easier to follow rules than to walk daily in faith, and it’s much easier to parent based on fear and control than complete trust in Jesus Christ.
The Problem With “Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner”
Using “hate the sin” as a license for cruelty defeats the purpose of proclaiming truth. The gospel needs no help causing division; it is foolishness to those who reject it (1 Cor. 1:22-24). Because the gospel will divide based on its exclusive nature, our job is not to further that division but to simply love the Lord our God with all our hearts (emotions), souls (being), minds (thoughts), and strength (effort).
Why Marriage Won’t Fix a Lust Problem
We’ve celebrated marriage as the haven for God-defined sexuality that it is, but we’ve forgotten something. We’ve forgotten that marriage can’t fix a lust problem.
6 Unconventional Wedding Ideas for Christian Brides
Perhaps the most beautiful thing about our wedding day is this: it wasn’t the best day of our lives. It was beautiful, special, and monumental in its significance, but each year we spend together and each challenge we face brings deeper joy than we felt back then. The wedding is just a day. Marriage is a lifetime. It only gets better with age.
Why Modesty is Worth It
In their zeal for the word of God, they forgot the spirit of God. They became so encompassed with the law, with the words, and with the rules that they forgot Who the words came from and for what they were meant. Jesus’ work resuscitated the spirit of the law: grace is the motive to obedience.
How to Talk to Your Boyfriend About Your Sexual Past
God forgives sexual sin. I could stop with that amazing fact and just revel in the redemption He offers! (And I do – it’s all in my testimony.)
Though God forgives us, there are still consequences for sin. Most people will never fully forget the things they have done or experienced. Our daily walk of faith requires us to choose God’s way at every opportunity, rejecting shame and embracing the purpose He has for our lives. As we walk in this freedom, there will inevitably come a day when we must share our journey with another person. There comes a time when we have to be honest about the past.
Please, Tell Me How to Parent My Child
“How far along are you?”
The woman in line next to me was asking, glancing from my heels to my laptop to the stomach rounding beneath my business casual.
“Eight months.” I smiled.
Another woman turned around. “Girl, you’re about to pop! Don’t you have that baby on this plane!” But the first woman looked more concerned than amused.
“You don’t look big enough to be eight months pregnant.”
Celebrating Your Sexuality as a Single Woman
We don’t often hear the words “celebrate” and “sexuality” in the same sentence, particularly within the church. It may even bring to mind some negative or New Age-y connotations, like National Naked Gardening Day or the “Free the Nipple” movement. But that’s not what I’m talking about. This topic brought up some great questions in the Lust Free Living groups I launched two weeks ago, and it deserves discussion here as well.
Why Christian Girls Idolize Marriage
God tempts no one (Jas. 1:13), but His good gifts can be used for evil if our hearts are not on guard. Marriage – a holy relationship reflecting Christ and the church – is one of Satan’s primary targets. If he can make Christian women idolize marriage before they have it, he can destroy that marriage once they do.
Christ and the Strong-Willed Woman
Does feminism have a monopoly on the "strong woman?" Sometimes that appears to be the case. Third wave feminism grabbed a few words from the English vocabulary and never bothered to give them back. The church - understandably hesitant to align with secular feminist...
How I Let Go of the Woman I Wanted to Be
I spent years molding myself into my ideal woman. I had a vision for who she would be. I was fairly certain that, with enough work, I could make her happen. I could be all the things: educated, well dressed, articulate, political, logical, and - the end goal -...
How Do I Know He’s “The One”?
When I think about my relationship to Josh, there are days I ask myself why we ever got married. Josh and I are not only opposite in personality, we don't share any of the same interests or tastes. We tolerate one another's music choices, movie preferences, and...
To the Girl With the Boring Testimony
< My story isn't anything special. Perhaps that's what you think. I know it's what I thought in the college-group circle. To be honest, I was embarrassed of it - ashamed of my goody-two-shoes life. It seemed like rebellion was a rite of passage and I'd...
How to Go From Texting to Dating
Cutting back on texting doesn’t mean the guy you like will ask you out, but it often leads to a better knowledge of his intentions. Less availability leads to more clarity. It requires that the contact people DO have with you be meaningful and direct. And the promise of deeper relationships is incentive enough to shut off the phone, get some coffee, and talk face to face – just like old times.
Anger Issues and the Yelling Mom
I’ll be the first to admit I have a temper. As I shared on the podcast, I’m the kind of person who enjoys a good fight. While my penchant for conflict served me well in the career world, it’s not as appealing within the walls of my home.
I first recognized my anger in my late teens and early twenties. By then, old habits were dying hard. My temper flared easily, almost too quickly. Most concerning to me was how my angry nature would affect my future kids. I knew if I kept walking this tempestuous road, I would inevitably become the Yelling Mom.
Hope for the Not-So-Good Girl
I used to think my story shouldn’t have happened to me. I used to ask God why He allowed it. Now I know why. I have experienced the redemptive power of a God who saves us out of a sin-wracked world; the only secure place in a spiritual war. He is the hope in a story like mine
Why We Should Stop Saying “There Are No Good Men”
As members of this eternal purpose we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Everything we do should be guided by our foundational knowledge of God: that He has a purpose, and we are part of it.
To the Girl About to Become a Woman
This is a guest post by Daniel Klewel. This letter is one he wrote to his nieces. Daniel thought it could encourage other young women, and I agree with him! He has some great things to say about hope and identity. Enjoy! You were on my mind this morning, so I...
Five Tips for New Moms {From My Mommy Mentors}
I’m five months into this motherhood adventure and am finally in a place where I can see fruit from the seeds planted those first six weeks. Those who follow my story know that I didn’t have much time to prepare for Adeline’s arrival (we moved to a new state five days before she was born)! I was more concerned about my natural birth than anything else at the time, so I spent more time preparing for that than I did reading up on post-birth care. Oopsies!