Hey Friendlings,
I absolutely love interviewing people, uncovering their stories, and getting so excited about the interview that I forget there are other people listening in on the conversation.
Join me as I uncover an incredible love story of basketball, broken dreams, romance and waiting.
Want to laugh and be inspired today? Please meet two of my favorite people in the universe.
They’ll teach you about the beauty of miscommunication in dating, the making of a marriage in which one spouse often leaves the country, and why they let their unmarried friends be all up in their bizzzz-nass. Oh, and they’ll teach you about their actual business practices, social passions and facial-manicuring tricks. Read more
Do you like love stories? Do you like hip-hop? Do you like poetry and spoken word? Have you ever worked with your spouse? Have you ever wanted to move out of the friend-zone and into dating? Have you ever wanted to learn how to drop a mic? Read more
I remember my college pastor Ben Patterson often quoting the verse, “In Him, we move and have our being.”
I was excited to see that verse in today’s post by Preston Yancey because, like my college pastor, he is one of those thinker-writer types that incorporates the poetry of Scripture into the poetry of their writing. Read more
This is the third time Mr. Timothy Willard has guest posted on the ol’ LRN site. He’s pretty much the male-Joy at this point, which is a title he’s been working toward for the past few years. (Bows head to be Knighted.)
In reality, I keep asking him back because I know him, respect him and appreciate his wisdom as a married man who can shed light on an area that, well, I cannot.
I’m sure Eryn hates being described as little, adorable and tiny, but all I can say is, I clench my jaw from cuteness-overload when I see her–similar to how I feel when I see a kitten. Judge as you will. But just because she has adorable fashion sense and is the size of something I could throw over my shoulder like a continental solider, she is a GIANT in the department of world changers. May some of her love, energy and enthusiasm to serve the unseen and the …
No, wait, let me start that over.
There’s a priest, a pastor and a rabbi…
Wait, no, this is how it goes. Read more
Hi Friends!
Have you enjoyed this series with Normie Baby? (Another nickname that he doesn’t know I call him in my head.)
In the opening of this season finale you will hear how much of a nightmare I am after I’ve done too many videos in one day. I can barely complete a sentence.
AND THEN NORMIE MAKES ME VERY UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN HE FLIPS THE TABLES ON ME. Read more
Want some first-hand stories of people who have gone through The Illumination Project? I had so much fun reading the answers to the questions I asked Crista and Sydney.
Who are Crista and Sydney, you ask?
First they were amazing interns for Love and Respect Now, and then my parents and I decided to keep them. I am so grateful for the energy and efficiency these two women bring to Love and Respect, but beyond all that they believe in the work whole-heartedly.
(Either that or they are really good liars.) Read more
Cameron Strang started this magazine called Relevant.
And a podcast. (Which he’s foolishly let me on the last three weeks.)
And an online magazine–specifically the iPad edition–that will blow your mind.* Read more
Are you loving Normie as much as I am?
In this episode we opened with us reliving the time I was trying to be HI-LAR-IOUS, and gave myself third degree burns.
And then things got real. Read more
If nothing else, please just watch the first 25 seconds of this video. 
If you stay for longer, you’ll find out that red flags are not the only relationship flags on the table.
Yes. Read more
Hey y’all,
I can say that because today’s guest is from Nashville. Plus, I just love saying y’all.
IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE, Y’ALL!!
Annie has a new book hot off the press. The words she’s written about me below are far too kind, but they will give you a feel of how her latest release will inspire you.
Also, since it’s just us here, I wanted to give you an update on something. Read more
Does this guy look new to you? Make sure you check out the first and second Tuesday with Normie. If you already know him, you can check out the next episode HERE.
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I’m not one for writing post with lists like, “5 Ways To Become a Broadway Singer.” Truly. I was honored to know that even Christianity Today noticed I’m not a big list-writer. (They also called me a “Relationship Maven,” so obviously they didn’t call any of my exes as references.)
But the way things shook out in today’s chat with Dr. Norm Thiesen all boiled down to two great questions. Read more
Andrea Lucado and I connected a few years ago in Nashville, after Rachel Cruze (Dave Ramsey‘s daughter) gave me the idea of connecting with other “daughters.” If you don’t know who Andrea’s father is, he’s written a few books (and by “few” I mean, like, 100).
What connected us was our author-pops*, but what solidified our meeting was smoked sausage. Read more
This time I am talking to Dr. Norm Thiesen about a shift in our generation–how we’ve moved towards being so “honest” about marriage being hard that we forget to talk about its benefits.
Because unmarried people keep hearing the horror stories instead of the stories of success, it feels to me like one more contributor to the growing delay of marriage. Read more
Well Hello Hello!
I’ve been told that one should never explain a joke, but just in case you have never been to a bookstore, the following series is a spin-off on the book, Tuesdays with Morrie. Read more
Recently my brother sent me a picture of Jackson, my 3-year-old nephew, photocopying one of his storybooks. My brother realized the reason he was doing this was because he had seen my brother making photocopies from one of his own books. Children watch and copy.
My friend, Tim, knows the patterns he lives out will be the standard his daughters will grow to expect from the future men in their lives. This is my favorite part about this post. As I think about my future sons, or even my friends’ children who are watching me, I hope the model of how I treat and speak about others is something worthy of being copied. Read more
Hey Friends!
Are any of you going through The Illumination Project right now? My hope is that it will create friendships that allow people to share their own stories and illumination moments. In session two, I share the story of how I did not end up getting marred…
Today, I wanted to share a story of someone who did get married. Emily’s story is a clear progression of the different ways we can hear from God, seek and listen to wise counsel and make decisions—even when our feelings are unclear.
Esther is a humanitarian photographer. What does that mean? Well in my words, it means she puts people above getting the best shot. With every client, Esther will build a relationship, validate a person’s significance, and hear their story before she works on the best lighting or angle.
Things that matter and make a difference rarely happen overnight.
Whether it’s our dream to start a movement or our desire to fix a character flaw, it takes plotting, planning, prayer, sweat, sometimes tears…and then you actually have to DO.
You need to read this guest post.
Fritz Ridenour is a well respected man in the world of literature, but he has also become a close family friend and father figure to my dad. Though Fritz has helped edit most of my father’s books, theirs is unlike any editor/author relationship I’ve ever seen.
Hey friendlings,
I’m really excited to share some words with you from my dear friend, Karyn. She worked at Imago Dei in Portland, and was one of the contributors at The Illumination Project filming last summer. Karyn wrote this piece about light for my church a while back—I hope it brings some illumination to your day as well. Read more
I was standing in line at the Portland Nursery in an attempt to plant a garden with my friends Lindsay and Julie. (And no, the garden was not a success—but we did find what appeared to be the bones of a cat when we were “tilling the soil.”)
Anywhooo… the man behind in line me asked me about the college sweatshirt I was wearing. One thing led to another and he said, “You have to meet me wife.”
My friend, Esther, introduced me to Tim a couple years ago. Not hearing my name correctly, Tim tried to clear it up by guessing what he thought he heard Esther say.
Tim: “Chalet?”
Me: “What? No…Joy.”
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