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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
One of the most common phrases I’ve written in response to the Ask Joy emails I’ve received over the years is, “God is not trying to trick you.” I believe this old post–which I’ve updated for today–is an example of what triggers this type of question. But it also gets at the deeper issue we all need to face when we’re left wondering if we’ve misunderstood “God’s leading” in our life.
We may even wonder, “God, did you lie to me? Do you even care?”
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.
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Hey Joy, Read more
Hey Joy,
My husband and I just heard the Love and Respect message. Now, whenever we get into conflict, he shuts me down by saying, “You’re being disrespectful.”
How am I supposed to bring something up to him if this is always his response to conflict?
Read more
I am SO excited to speak at Plywood Presents in a couple weeks with my friend Jeff Shinabarger. Jeff is a connector and brings together people who are solving problems so they can encourage one another and continue to support each other in innovation. Sound amazing? It is and you should come.
Exceeeeept that it’s sold out this year. Read more
Hi-ya friends!
Summer-fun discussion got going as people weighed in on THIS video I posted recently. A few (good) men said that maybe the guy didn’t want to be “official” because he was scared or had past wounds.
So this new video explains what I would say to a guy who is trying to be honest and say he needs time and isn’t ready to commit. 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
Joy,
I have been friends with a guy for over three years. For the last 8 months, we have been officially dating. He has met some of my family, but he has not told any of his family or friends about me–nor does he think that’s a problem.
We are really good together when it’s just the two of us.
I want to go public with our relationship, but he doesn’t. I feel like he is hiding me. 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
Hi Friendlings!
If you haven’t heard already, I’m going to start hanging out with ya’ll!
My father and I tested out Love and Respect Now’s first Google + hangout sesh while in Dallas for Dave Ramsey’s Smart Conference. I didn’t see my two dudes from Croatia this time, but had some great questions come in that we were able to answer.
Hi Joy,
I have a dude friend who I really respect and appreciate, but who often complains about how lonely he is and how “all women suck.” It’s really frustrating to hear over and over again, but I’m not sure how to approach him. If I confront him at all he gets defensive.
On one hand, I can understand that he’s coming from a place of hurt and pain. On the other hand, I hate to hear him putting females down and not taking responsibility for his own actions. I really want to be respectful towards him, but every attempt seems to fail! Helpppp!
Hi Joy,
For the first half of my marriage I hadn’t read the Love and Respect book.
Now, the book has completely transformed the way I treat my husband and has made our marriage so much better. He is a great father and very funny— I even feel I have more than I could ask for in some regards.
At the same time, he tends to struggle at meeting my needs emotionally.
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