I wore this today because I’m insecure.
I looked in the mirror and the mirror told me lies. But I believe it, because it’s all I’ve ever known.
You’re not enough. You’re not attractive. You’re unloveable.
I wore this today because I want attention.
I looked in a magazine and the magazine lied. But I believe it, because it says I can be confident.
Show off your body. Make them look. Make them jealous.
In my 5-day Overcomer’s Email Course, I never fail to get a response on Day Three’s email: laziness. “Oh man, this is my struggle,” the emails pour in. “It’s so hard to motivate myself to do what I need to do each day!” Laziness is no stranger to us. Even the most productive people have sneaky ways to be lazy if they let themselves; little distractions and insignificant tasks they use to procrastinate what really matters. But we don’t talk much about laziness in the church because – much like gossip or physical boundaries – we don’t see it as a spiritual problem.
As a young “Christian”, my walk with God was little more than trying to follow rules. Trying to overcome temptation was an uphill battle against an ever-prefailing human self. I spent my Bible study trying to memorize the “lists” of Christian character qualities in the New Testament – then attempted to implement those virtues on my own strength. It’s no surprise I failed to overcome temptation – my walk with God wasn’t much to speak of, since God wasn’t very much part of it at all!
This weekend I read Maddi Runkles’ story: How she discovered she was pregnant her senior year of high school, confessed to her school, and consequential to the sexual sin that caused the pregnancy was not allowed to attend classes or walk in their graduation (though she did receive a diploma). I then read the statement by Heritage Academy – why they dealt with a pregnant student in the manner they did.
One of my most frequently asked questions is, “How do you have time for reading?” Between working from home, momming a toddler, and at the writing of this post growing a second little baby, reading has to be prioritized or it won’t happen! Reading is one of my passions, but for many years it had to go on the back burner. My teens and early twenties (up to age 25, really) were spent working full time while also taking college classes. I only had to time to read my assigned work, not the books I longed to read!
Biblical sexuality is a topic shrouded by confusion. A lot of black and white lines are drawn in places that often feel very… gray. Pursuing biblical sexuality isn’t as simple as not having sex before marriage, either; biblical sexuality is the active pursuit of God’s ultimate intention for our lives. What is that intention? Holiness! It is holiness that keeps us in relationship with Him – a holiness bought by Christ and maintained by the Holy Spirit, for whom our bodies are temples. This is why sexual sin is so grievous, and why biblical sexuality is such a worthy pursuit.
You know who I’m talking about.
There are pictures of the two of you in diapers. Your moms have known each other for twenty-plus years. Or maybe you met through youth group in 9th grade and were inseparable until high school graduation. You were always “just friends” – nothing more – until he started dating.
Then something changed.
I am a home birth mom.
Having my babies at home thrusts me into the world of crunchy motherhood – a place I never imagined I would be. Before our first child I was a gimme-the-drugs diva who thought cloth diapers and vaccination fights were for crazies. Now I’m in the middle of crunchy mom world, somewhere between moon child and manicured prepster, unwilling to give up either aspect of my mothering identity.
This week on the Uniquely Woman podcast, we are tackling an issue that plagues conservative circles: Basing worldview on a reaction to the world rather than on what the Bible says.
We provide a few examples of this – e.g., holding motherhood up as the highest calling of women, viewing women as objects of sexual temptation instead of humans made in the image of God, and advancing courtship as the answer to hookup culture.
I talk about waiting a lot. Waiting is part of being human; it’s not something we only do while single or in college. We’ll always be waiting for something.
But a season of waiting doesn’t mean sitting still. To the contrary, our waiting seasons can be a time of great productivity! Whether the season lasts a few weeks or a few years, here are ten ways to steward this time well.