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My friend Julie is talented. She is in school for a Masters of Fine Arts in Applied Craft and Design. It’s more than just finger puppets folks. A couple weeks ago, my friend Erin came to visit. I knew she would love my friend Julie’s apartment so we stopped by unannounced, at 8am. Needless to say, Julie was adorable even in her P.J.’s For the rest of Erin’s visit, she kept referencing Julie. “How would Julie arrange this plate…How would Julie wear this…How would Julie …
Ask Joy I am currently leading a Love and Respect small group for women. They come from all different situations, happily married, fresh divorce, divorced more than 5 years, married to someone who does not believe in God, etc. Every time these women leave my house I feel like I am putting them in more pain.. yikes! I am using the Love and Respect DVD series and workbook, but it is geared towards couples. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can better …
Ask Joy I liked this girl five years ago. I still compare other girls to her physical beauty. Is there something wrong with me since I want someone that I think is similar in body shape and look? My Response No, there is nothing wrong with you. We all have different things that we are attracted to and that is ok. There are a couple things I would be aware of… 1) If you are so set on ONLY dating a girl that looks like …
Ask Joy I have friends that have had both great as well as horror stories with Internet dating sites. (i.e. scams, just wanting a hook-up, etc.) What are the positives and the negatives of Internet dating? My Answer The last stat I read was that 40 million Americans are on dating websites. One positive would be the large pool to choose from…should you be open to putting your roots down in South Dakota. Honestly though, I think when people question or freak out about dating …
I realize that my generation resists anything that is “3 steps to ________.” It seems too “packaged” or “consumeristic.” My apologies. In thinking about the things I have learned while being single, I wrote some of them down. This created a list. That list happened to consist of three things. Are you seeing the natural progression? Next time I will let my post be more “organic” and “holistic.” Then we can dialogue. But back to my list… 1) Work at being content, even when you …
My dear friend Erin is in town visiting this week. We met a few years ago in Switzerland and she now lives in Florida. Palm Beach and Portland aren’t easily accessible, but the friendship exists via phone, emails, prayers, and making the effort to see one another. Yesterday we realized we had seen each other five times since we parted ways in beautiful Switzerland in the Spring of 2008. Erin is the type of friend who makes me want to be a better friend. And …
The Ask Joy question for this week: What is chivalry today? I believe it’s very easy to take the original intent of chivalry as an “act of service” and change it into a “statement against women.” Take my good friend “Billy the Biker” for example… Questions What do you think? Should women feel this way? Are men paralyzed? Could the dismissal of chivalry be creating passive men? Do we fear empowering one another?
Ask Joy My boyfriend just broke up with me again. He’s had a rough past with his family and some trust issues. He admits and KNOWS that I love him. He wanted to marry me, but felt so disrespected and was hurt, so he gave up. I’m understanding now after reading your parents book. I want to show him I understand what he meant by disrespect, but I’m also afraid it won’t help. My Answer Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a righteous man falls seven times, …
Ask Joy What happens if you meet someone when you are very young and realize you’re best friends and never want to be apart. You stay pure and you get married…Life is good for a while because you’re hanging out with your best friend. Sex is not a big deal…you have it when he wants to. But then you wake up one day and realize you have never really been physically attracted to this individual. That the sexual feelings you had for him before marriage …
Thanks to everyone who submits great anonymous questions in the Ask Joy section or directly at LoveandRespectNOW@gmail.com It has been such a pleasure to hear your hearts. It causes me to think and pray even more specifically for the concerns and issues we are all facing in this generation. Since I can’t make a video for every single question, I decided to answer some of them publicly in a written response. Some are specific, some broad, but hopefully all of them will help us as …
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