I wrote and posted this last Mother's Day, but I thought it might be helpful to post it again for myself and all my readers out there who feel like Mother's Day is not for them. May it encourage you today, dear sister.
What a Girl Wants (and How She Can Get It): Part 3
Even with the most comprehensive and put together discipleship program girls today have a responsibility to act rightly. Women, and girls, have tremendous power at their fingertips. While most young women would say that they want a man to lead, provide, and protect them, many of them settle for far less than God’s ideal for a godly man. As John Ensor so helpfully says in his book, Doing ThingsRight in Matters of the Heart:
What a Girl Wants (and How She Can Get It): Part 2
Yesterday, I discussed the disconnect between what many younger girls want and what they actually do to go about getting it. The local church is the place where they can learn about what it means to be a woman and live according to God's guidelines for them. And the Bible has a lot to say on this. Here is the continuation on yesterday's post.
What a Girl Wants (and How She Can Get It): Part 1
It’s the stuff little girls dream of. What begins as a childhood fascination with princesses, dress-up clothes, and mock weddings, grows into a teenage obsession with wedding magazines, boys, and dreams of matrimonial bliss. Most girls, pre-pubescent and teenage, think about getting married. They flock to romantic movies, swoon over the male lead pursuing the woman perfectly, and then hope and wish that the same thing might happen to them someday. Regardless of what the feminists say about girl power and all, most teenage girls (especially Christian ones) still want marriage and family. But then again, there is also a disconnect somewhere.
Hope for Homosexuals
A few years ago a girl I knew remarked that she felt strange visiting her particular hairdresser because she was a lesbian. Knowing that this woman was attracted to women, not men, made her uncomfortable, and eventually she moved on to someone else. She meant no ill-will towards the hairstylist. She was a solid believer, valued God's word, and prayed fervently for lost people to come to Christ. But when it came to the homosexual hair stylist something just didn't sit right with her. I think her response is quite common for many of us within the conservative Christian community.
Book Review: When God Weeps
I just finished reading When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty, written by Joni Eareckson Tada and Steve Estes. I have read snippets of Joni's writing over the years, but never actually read a full book by her. Now I'm wishing I had started reading her writing earlier in my Christian life! A reader commented a while ago asking what books I recommend on suffering. I've read a few over the last couple of years, but I would have to say that this one might be the one that has helped me the most. It's a solid biblical response to suffering coupled with a tender care for the reader.
The Pure See God
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” –Matthew 5:8
I have read this verse for years and it was only recently that the full weight of it hit me. Lack of purity, in heart and ultimately in deed, can keep us from seeing God. So often when we talk about purity with young people we focus primarily on behavior modification. It is not wrong to tell kids not to have sex and that “true love waits”. In fact, telling them what not to do is a form of instruction and necessary in shepherding and guiding. But it must be more than that. And I think the Bible tells the same story.
I Want More Bible
As I've reflected on my first semester as a teacher this verse has been rocking my world lately.
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
God's Plan for Us
Friday is for Food: Pesto Chicken Pasta
I had this at a friend's house when Daniel was out of town a few months ago. And I have been DYING to make it ever since! She didn't have a written recipe for it, which is kind of nice and freeing. I sort of made up the name of this recipe based on what is in it. It is just so good! If you like veggies, pasta, and pesto, you will like this. If not, you can just skip making this meal all together because that's all that is in it! Here it is: