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So no, this is not an Ask Joy where I address the likelihood of a girl getting pregnant from square dancing. Although it’s been known to happen…
Another great music video from my friend Ragnar, shot by my friend Matt, staring my friend Hilary, and all of them are related to one of my nearest and dearest friends–Lindsay Sue. At Lindsay and Matt’s wedding, Ragnar and Hilary performed this song and had the whole reception join in on the chorus. While waving our glasses Ragnar swayed with his accordion and Hilary dinked lightly on the keys of a child’s piano. It was a picturesque scene.
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.
For me, receiving a mixed CD is probably the equivalent of getting one of those notes back in middle school* that were all folded up and each corner had a different little message. I loved a note that was filled with drawings and secrets on every inch of the page.
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.
SIDE NOTE: I am starting to re-think these whole “Ask Joy” videos….because… 1) I am running out of different places to sit in my office for the recordings. 2) I never came up with a good “sign off.” (Trust me, “Abschied meiner kleinen Freunde im Ausland!” just didn’t work.) 3) I realized hearing a short question is not how I am wired to respond. I always want to know more. I keep feeling like I am giving a million caveats of “I don’t really know the whole story.” …
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.
No, this is not a blog on the ethics of war. This is actually about a band called The Middle East and their song called Blood.
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!
I remember the first time I heard Jack Johnson. It was my junior year in high school and I was visiting my brother at Westmont College. We were driving on the 101 just outside of Ventura and he put on a bootleg burned CD of Johnson’s acoustic stuff.
I knew California was going to be different than Michigan, and in terms of music, I think Jack Johnson was my first “cross over” musician.
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…
Awareness of lower-back pain can be heightened when you have to wait through a couple bands at a concert before the real band goes on stage. Surprisingly I enjoyed and haven’t been able to stop listening to the newest album from the band SeaBird that opened this week for Needtobreathe.
(Kind of a lame band name, but I love them, and I am a loyalist. Needtobreathe for life.)
I wasn’t going to post this “Ask Joy” response because I was really tired when I recorded it and I hope whoever asked the question doesn’t feel like I am un-empathetic…it’s just those lazy eyes that kick in when I am fatigued.
I promise.
I prefer real live-human-contact games over board games. Unless it’s Trivial Pursuit.
In college, my boyfriend and I bought Trivial Pursuit and after the break-up, had to discuss how we would handle visitation rights.
A video reflecting on a recent lecture I attended on how to write a Christian Romance Novel. The women were sweet and gracious, but I had a tough time swallowing some of their instructions.
Ok, I might have actually gagged a little. Read more
On Sunday my pastor gave an overview of where we have been as a church and where we are headed. The story of our journey this last year actually gave me chills.
(Maybe there was just a draft.)
The pendulum swing. Close eyed open mindedness. Love and hypocrisy. Evil and regret. False humility and genuine humanity. Cynicism of past generations. Blindness towards new repetition. Divorce after two years. His fault. Her fault. Happiness as the end all. Feelings as the determinant of truth. Fear of the word respect. Manipulation of love. Consumed by the idea of other. No sense of other. Questions with no answers. Results with no reason. An uncomprehendable God. A good God. A silent God. Loudness. Cemeteries filled with peace. …
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