One of the many great things we learned in our pre-marital counseling is the importance of a scheduled date night. Our counselors told us that unless you schedule concentrated time together to draw one another out and enjoy each other; inevitably other things will get in the way.
Elyse Fitzpatrick on Modesty
Elyse Fitzpatrick has a great post on The Gospel Coalition blog on modesty. Summer usually means a lot of talk on modesty, and her piece is an excellent reminder and heart check for all of us as we look at our closests and our motives behind our outfits. In her post, "Gentle Jesus, Meek and....Modest?" she links modesty to the character of Jesus. Jesus was modest, she says. Defining modesty as "a refusal to show off out of love for God and one's neighbor. Jesus refused to show off his power." And he could of. In a heartbeat. Instead he exercised restraint so that the plan of salvation could be accomplished for you and me.
Biblical Truth on Motherhood from Jani Ortlund
I love reading (and listening to) anything by Jani Ortlund. She is a gift to many women through her biblical wisdom. She loves serving women and helping them love their husbands and children, just as Titus 2 commands her to. She also delights in serving her own husband and now grown children. God has shaped her and equipped her to be a model, which is why I was so excited to read her article in the 9Marks E-Journal this past weekend. The article came out a few weeks ago but I didn't have time to sit down and read it, so I saved it for this past Saturday. I was so blessed. The article is titled: "For the Young Mother: Ministry Guilt and Seasons of Life." And it is worth the read.
Developing a Long-term View of Life
Seminary can be hard on a married couple. Sure it seems romantic and exciting to pledge to work and support your husband while he slaves away at his studies for three or four years (or maybe more). Once reality sets in the anticipation can fall flat with the papers, late nights, and often other work that commands his attention. For some life as a seminary couple is a breeze. But for many that is simply not the case. It takes hard work and commitment—and it most definitely takes a good dose of the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work.
Repost: Celebrating Dependence
I always look forward to the 4th of July. But as I prepared for the festivities today it caused me to think about what independence means for me as a Christian. Though I am very thankful today, and every day, for the freedoms that I have as an American citizen, I am not really a free and autonomous person. Nobody is. We are under the rule of the One who rules the universe. Psalm 24:1 says “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” As a Christian, my celebration of independence should be one of gratitude for the men who died so I can have basic liberties, but I also should recognize that I cannot get caught up in the rhetoric of rights. I belong to the Lord first, America second.
Opting Out of Motherhood
Every so often an expert will show up on national television talking about the growing changes in cultural norms regarding motherhood and marriage. So it was no real surprise when I caught this segment on CBS’ Early Show last Saturday morning. The expert was a marriage, family, and child therapist, and she was brought in to discuss the growing fact that one in five women of childbearing age are now opting not to have children.
The Way of the Wise: A Review of Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild
If we were asked to think of a “wild woman” a person or type of person would typically quickly come to mind. We can all think of her right? She is usually the girl we don’t hang out with, because of her bad reputation. She is the girl flirting with the boys in school, or the girl buying the bikini at the mall, or the girl at the clubs and bars every weekend night. But she certainly isn’t in our homes or churches. She couldn’t be, could she?
Models for Marriage
Daniel and I had the privilege of spending time a few weeks ago with a couple who has been married for many more years than we have. We always like the opportunity to be around people who have been at it longer than us because it gives us a chance to learn from them and pick up some helpful tips from their relationship. This time provided us with such an opportunity.
What I Learned in the First Year: Marriage is a Good Thing
Often it is the example of others that causes truths to stick into our hearts and minds. We can hear teaching all day long, but it is the real life testimonies of grace that cause us to see the teaching come alive. In God’s mercy I have been surrounded by many godly marriages. Whether it was through my parents, friends, or church family, I saw that godly marriages were possible and that they mattered. So I knew conceptually that marriage was a good thing. But one of the things I have learned even more fully this year is how good it really is.
What I Learned in the First Year: Biblical Womanhood
In the months leading up to our wedding I read a lot about marriage. While I had read books about biblical womanhood in my single years, I hadn’t read them with my future husband in plain view. So I wanted as much information to prepare me for marriage as possible—even if it meant rereading material I had read before. You can never be too prepared, right? In my sinful attempt to control every aspect of my life, I thought that if I just read enough than I would be fully prepared and perfected for the task of being a wife. Thankfully, God did not leave me in that delusion for long.