I’m excited for you to consume the following words and pictures from my sweet friend, Sarah. There are few settings in life where I am forced to contemplate life more than when traveling solo. I love the insights Sarah stumbled upon when she stepped foot into Spain.
Anybody up for a trip?
A lot of you are just joining Love and Respect Now for the first time. To which I say, welcome! And also, I hope you like unicorns.
Even if you’re not new, I thought we would do a little flashback in case you missed this series I did answering questions on the topic of respect. This particular question deals with fearing the word respect—the series continues on to eventually be a conversation between me and a group of dudes talking…and not talking…for hours. (Name that movie.)
Recently I was on Facebook and saw this post from my friend, Annie. It was the opposite of many people’s typical pet-peeve status updates.
The only people I know who don’t want to be intimately known are those who have been deeply hurt.
The fear of being exposed or hurt again keeps us private. And while being known by our fellow man is scary enough, it’s sometimes even harder to believe that there is a God who knows us, loves us, and is good.
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.”
Well Hello!
IT’S FINALLY HERE. The (almost) birthday of The Illumination Project.
They grow up so fast.
About two years ago, I posted some thoughts on the timeless C.S. “Jack” Lewis and his words regarding love and marriage.
I loved the insight and discussion that ensued, and I want to get that going again, so I decided to repost this little gem.
Hey Joy,
I recently met someone. Bummer is, one of us is moving twenty hours away. We have had several discussions about giving this a chance or not.
We are taking that chance!
I wish you could all hang out with my friend, Katie. She’s one of those people who makes you laugh—most of the time without intentionally trying.
I would also like you to meet Katie because she could essentially be called the co-founder of Love and Respect Now.
Recently a friend of mine, who is single without kids, told me about some married friends who recently went on a camping trip with their kids and some other couples. Although she would have loved to go along, she felt like the “season of life factor” may have caused the married couple to compartmentalize the invitation list. My guess is, married people with kids probably assume single peoplewithout kids would rather go camping with their other single friends who can stay up late around a …
Wise words today from my friend, Guy Chmieleski. Growing up, I wonder if when he would hear people say, “You guys!” he would turn around and think everyone else in the crowd had his name?
Did I just make a dad joke?
Hey, friendlings!
A little while back, I did an Ask Joy about being heartbroken and angry and how we can actually retrain our brains to combat these feelings, reshaping our future experiences.
Seriously, our little brains are even smarter than we think! Read more
Fellow Portlander Emily is comin’ at you live today with two things we couldn’t agree on more:
1. Our need to launch our rap careers
2. Assuming the best (ATB)
What I call “ATB” Emily calls “No Negative Generalizations,” and my parents call it “Assume Goodwill.” And eventually, I will just come on stage and start all my raps with “Yo, let’s ATB all up in heeeeeaaa!”
So happy to have my friend, Paul, post again and tell us about his new book, 101 Secrets for your Twenties! Take it away, Paul! Read more
Hi Joy,
I watched your video about leading people on. At first I thought, “Oh! I am free and clear. I never lead anyone on…ever. They just take my friendliness out of context.” Then I realized my behavior hasn’t been just friendly. I have been the textbook definition of a tease and now I don’t know what to do. So my question is: how do you dig yourself out once you’ve led someone on?
Benny works in the art-space that my church has for a few artists in residence. Sadly for our community (but a new adventure for Benny), he, his wife, and two twin boys will be leaving to go teach art at Baylor University. I first met Benny when I went to hear his wife sing at a benefit concert.
TOO MUCH TALENT IN ONE FAMILY. Read more
Most of you know Sarah and her writing already, but for those of you who don’t—here is a wonderful introduction to her writing style, thoughtful mind, and open heart. I had the honor of meeting her and her hubs a couple years ago and get to serve with her and a group of women to help launch the IF: Gathering next year.
But right now I’m excited to have her share an illumination moment with us.
“Delay is not denial.”
Once again, my favorite devotional says it so well. Ponder this as you think about the things that God seems to be forgetting or delaying for you.
It’s not every day a magazine interview that is supposed to last 30-ish minutes ends up going 2 hours and subsequent plans are made to meet the interviewer the following week in L.A.
(Man, I wish I was about to tell you the interviewer was a dude!)
Eric Metaxas is known mainly for his speaking and for being a New York Times best-selling author, but I know him mostly as a long-time friend of my father. And now, even though he writes unsolicited endorsements for me, I consider him a friend, too.
When you meet Eric, you will find that half of what he says is thought-provoking and sincere. The other half is a joke. Read more
During the filming of The Illumination Project, I asked my father why in the world he would compare women as pink to men as blue in his book, Love and Respect. From my politically correct perspective, those colors felt stereotypical and were a distraction from the overall message of the book. However, when you watch the video series, you will hear how he changed my mind and learn why I am on board with this analogy now.
Like my parents also say on this subject, “You’re not wrong–just different.” Read more
Mike and I both live in Portland and “run in the same crowd”—whatever that means.
Hey, Joy!
I just finished reading “Love & Respect”—I am a single woman who has been broken up from a significant other for a year. We were talking of marriage before the break up. In the relationship, I thought he was being a little too sensitive the times when he’d ask me to sit with him and watch a movie that I had absolutely no interest in watching, so I would refuse, or when he would want me to sit in his kitchen with him and watch him cook, though I preferred to watch television instead. Sometimes I gave in, but other times, when I refused, he would get quiet on me and not talk to me. Read more
I met Janel in college. She was a star soccer player, artist, and native Californian. In my midwest naivety, I heard her speak and said, “So, are you what they call a Valley Girl?” She was not amused.
And she’s probably not amused at me telling that story.
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