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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 …
My plan today was to write a “Stuff I Like” blog post on an Album called “The Followers.” But when I woke up this morning, I didn’t expect to hear the news that our dear family friend Carolyne, had died in the night in a house fire. It makes me a little nauseous to even write that. But then I think back to the last conversation I had with Carolyne just a couple weeks ago on her 78th birthday. Much of it was filled with …
Last weekend I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in my friend Sarah’s wedding. Despite the rain, the ceremony was one I will never forget. Maybe it was because I was holding an umbrella… or because I was barefoot… or because minutes before the ceremony Sarah was playing air hockey with her father… Those things may contribute to the memory, but the stories that were shared about Sarah and Cassidy are probably what I will hold onto the longest. I don’t think there was …
This is my first guest blogger in the whole history of the entire universe. That is an awesome sentence. Slightly dramatic, but totally true. For my first guest blogger I chose Morgan because we have a similar heart and life. Have I looked as smokin’ as her in a wedding dress? (That’s her in the excerpt photo.) No I have not. But we both have fathers who are authors and speakers, trying to help relationships. We also work for our fathers because we too believe …
Maybe I am late to the game on this artist, but a friend just introduced me to him last week and I have been playing his whole album, To Be Loved on repeat. Some of his songs are Ryan Adams-country-esque sounding. But what do I know… If you are in love, Beauty Has A Name is a download must. If you aren’t…download the album anyways… Here’s a preview of a couple songs: Rosalyn Great Rejoicing
It feels like many people I talk to have already given their heart away once. And for those who haven’t, they are scared to open that door because of the pain they have seen their friends endure. With an increasing delay of marriage and an increase of serious relationships prior, I believe our generation is going to relate on the topic of “lost loves” far more than past generations. Something that can be tempting to create an identity around. Let me explain… Many of us …
Really? Yes. This past weekend I had the privilege of speaking with my mother at a women’s “camping” retreat. It was the first time for both of us; we really had no idea what to expect. As I told a friend later, “It was the most exhausting, energizing thing I have ever done.” I was filled with an unnatural love for these women and was shocked at how loved I felt in return. Because of that, I wanted to say, “Thank you.” The Lord has …
I have not written about respect a ton on my blog. It’s obviously one of the main premises of my parent’s message and foundational to successful relationships. But it’s so easily misunderstood, dismissed or seen as archaic so I usually like to address it with someone in person. I did address it in a guest post for my friend Nish, (HERE) awhile back but haven’t since. Last night I was working on a talk that I am giving this weekend for women on the topic of …
I mentioned last week that if a book is marked up, that means it held my attention. Which is diffic…. “Look at the birdie!” Ok, the book is: BONHOEFFER: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. Some people may not have the same love of history, theology, WWII, Hitler, assassination plots and knowing about people’s personal lives like I do…but if you are intrigued by ANY of the above or simply appreciate incredible writing, then you will be engrossed with this book. You love Hitler …
Later this week, I am going to post a video on how I labeled someone a “jerk”when I shouldn’t have… But first… People ask if I have books I would recommend for learning about relationships. While I do think my father’s book, Love and Respect can and should be read by unmarried people, one of the books that really impacted me a few years ago was John Van Epp’s How to Avoid Falling in Love with a Jerk. Not gonna lie, the cover is a …
The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony by Pamela Paul Paul quotes David Popenoe of the Marriage Project: “The nature of marriage has changed so much. It has become a kind of close friendship with a sexual relationship between a man and a woman. That’s a change. Before, it was a multifaceted institution. A partnership that was legally bound, typically a religious partnership and a partnership between two families. Just because the husband and wife didn’t get along wasn’t a reason to break up. …
Question: What is going on in the situations below? 1. Boy watches movie where “good girls” are always really “bad girls.” 2. Girl is told by boy on Monday, “I love you.” On Tuesday girl watches talk show about boys who cheat. 3. Boy begins dating girl on Monday who is four years older. On Tuesday boy reads article saying older girls always control relationships. 4. Girl watches movie where boy falls for girl who is mean and plays hard to get. Messages and information we receive today may be …
After all day email chains over conscious and sub-conscious thoughts on the movie Inception, it felt necessary to write a blog and “plant” the idea in your head that you should see this film.
I know many people haven’t seen the film yet, so I won’t spoil it—but trust me…people are going to blog their little hearts out about this film. Especially Christians. Didn’t we do that with stuff like the Matrix and Bambi?
First you may want to read…
Singleness and the Church: A Helping Hand May Help.
Singleness and the Church: Part II
Continuation from Friday’s Singleness and the Church: BELIEF…and the Satisfied Single.
First you may want to read…
Singleness and the Church: A Helping Hand May Help.
Recently my mother gave me a book of letters written by Francois de Salignac de La Mothe Fenelon who was Archbishop of Cambrai. (I wonder how often he got, “What’s your middle name?”) He lived during the time of Louis the Fourteenth and was the spiritual advisor to Louis and others in his court who sought a life of true spirituality in the midst of a court life which was shamelessly immoral.
My friend Jenny asked me to guest blog for her…I opted to do a short piece about how we met, followed by a video sharing a bit more of my story…just a bit.
I’m on vacation. But it’s hard to get rest t0day. We save up vacation days to rest but are usually more exhausted by the time we get home.
You should probably read this first: PART I (if you don’t, your computer will implode…)
Speaking on singleness is not something that makes me jump up and click my heels together. I enjoy talking about relationships…broken or functioning…but staring at singleness right in the face is not my idea of fun.
Four years ago I had the privilege of hearing John Wooden speak. What stood out to me was his sincerity and wisdom. He was not asked to speak because he had the hottest new book or motivational talk. He was asked to speak because he motivated others by living the life he preached.
It’s funny how you can hear a story your whole life and then one day it just reads differently, based on where you are in life…
That happened to me this week in Matthew….and not due to the fact that I now pay more attention to writing and noticed how many sentances he starts with the word AND.
Small State of the Union:
Because of my propensity to dogmatism, I tend to shy away from God-talk or anything that sounds like I’m trying to be holier than I know I really am. In my desire to not fall into legalism or pietism or any other ism that would put me in a sometimes disliked category of “Christian,” I choose my words carefully.
Sometimes.
Being the daughter of, and working for the man who wrote a book on marriage titled, “Love and Respect,” has made it impossible to ignore the word respect and what it means to me. I will admit, Ephesians 5:33 is not a passage many of us women jump for joy when reading. “However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Eph. 5:33 I have had to ask myself this question and would …
ru’mi-nate: to chew the cud; to muse; to meditate; to think again; to ponder
In April I attended a writers conference where I ran into a familiar face. I was in Michigan where I grew up and the face was an old friend from college in California. It was like being seven years old again and seeing your second grade teacher at the grocery store. Wait, why are you here? You only belong in front of a chalk board!
Last week I heard the little “pop” sound on my computer and realized someone was “chatting me.” It was an old friend who had just recently broken up with his girlfriend. After e-chatting for a bit, I decided to run one of my little theories past him. He resonated with the portion I shared and said I should write it up. So here goes…
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