If you need to catch up on the first part of this series, check out Know Me: Part 1 and Know Me: Part 2. So let’s consider Mrs. McGillicutty. She’s sitting at table #14 sipping her water as all her grandchildren (whom she sees once a year) hit the dance floor. Problem: Her grandchildren (who don’t even know all the moves to the Macarena) are missing out on an untapped treasure trove of wisdom. I would consider this a problem. Art of Asking Questions: Seeking …
If you missed the first post in this series, check out Know Me: Part 1. Now, let’s consider your date to the wedding… Problem: You’re standing in line for the bathroom. (No, not that kind of problem.) Your friend (who really does have a bladder problem) wants the scoop on your date and what makes you two such a good match. Your answer consists of, “Oh, we just have so much fun together!” That’s great. But if the list ends there, I would consider that …
Recently I was at a wedding and I spoke with someone for an hour during “mingle time.” You know, that period lasting anywhere from 60-348.2 minutes where the ceremony is done and you are waiting for the bride and groom to arrive. Mingle Time. Post mingle time, I realized during the whole conversation, I had not been asked one question. Not one. Granted, I was asking lots of questions, and I didn’t have a need for the person to ask me any…but I still found …
I just recieved this text from my friend, Ryan: “It’s your birthday according to Facebook. Is this true?” Yes. According to some, you don’t exist if you don’t have a Facebook page. Well, I am here to tell you that my mother can confirm the labor pains that she endured on June 13th, 1982 when this little bundle of screaming joy, (or attempting to scream since I had the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck) graced the world. Facebook – you don’t define my existence. But this …
Respect State of The Union Watch the intro to find out what this is all about: RSOTU Intro (1 of 15) My favorite part of this video is the final call to action: “How are we going to deal with it?” Men and women – we all have wounds and fears. It’s so important to process our wounds and unpack our fears. But will we stay there forever? At what point do we say “yes” to trusting God’s word and relaxing in His control …
Respect State of The Union Watch the intro to find out what this is all about: RSOTU Intro (1 of 15) Question Women: Are you aware of your facial expressions? One of the things my father recommends is for women during a fight to go look at their faces a mirror and ask themselves, “Does anyone else look at him this way?” Men: I know that I feel more loved and known in a relationship if a guy figures out what I want or …
Ask Joy I’m turning 30 soon and I am single. All of my close relationships are with couples. Ideally I would love to be in a community where men and women, older and younger, married and single, connect. But because it seems as though my friends have just kind of accepted me as the single girl, no one seems interested or available to help connect me with any single men. Am I expecting too much from my close friends? My Response I admire that you …
Not too long ago I spoke at a university’s chapel. After the event finished, some of the students came up to talk with me. One guy very formally shook my hand and told me he was part of the “Entrepreneurial Club.” He looked at me with the intensity of a car salesman and told me I did “an excellent job.” (The conversation went something like this…) “Thank you. I appreciate that.” “Have you ever considered doing something on your own?” “What do you mean?” “Well, …
It is truly an honor to be posting on the Imago Dei Women’s blog. I have attended for five years now and have been deeply fed and transformed by the community I call my church home. What Do I Know? I recently attended Imago’s marriage forum—as an unmarried person. Thankfully, there was a big chunk of other singles attending as well. And no, we weren’t there to hit on each other. I hope. Although, I won’t lie; there was a guy in the singles breakout …
Say that title ten times fast. Ok, I just did…it’s actually not that hard. Instead of writing a blog post* I decided to make a list of the top posts from 2010. Thanks to Google Analytics and forcing my parents to tell me which post they liked the most, I present you with the following: TOP 10 OF 2010 #10 My Mom’s Favorite Post: “Jerk” #9 My Dad’s Favorite Post: “Emerson Interviews Joy” #8 Post Written with the Most Passion: “Swim Baby Swim” #7 Favorite …
I love discussing things with my Dad. If it wasn’t for our unbelievable ability to tap dance, we would probably opt to do a Daddy-Daughter-Discussion at my wedding in place of the Daddy-Daughter-Dance. Thankfully that decision doesn’t have to be made just yet. However, as you may have seen the past two weeks…I was not the most Anderson Cooper-esque in my interviews…so on the same day my father helped me out with a couple “Ask Joy” responses, he decided to flip the tables and interview …
While directing my parents’ Love and Respect Conferences for 2 years, I often heard people say, “I wish I would have known then what I know NOW.” They would then ask, “Why did no one teach us this 20 years ago?” I thought, “We need to get this information to my generation (Gen x and Millennium) so they won’t say, ‘I wish I would have known then what I know now.’” Thus, I call my site, Love and Respect NOW. So… I do research on …
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.
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 …
Tomorrow I have the privilege of speaking at Pepperdine University with Dr. Ken Canfield on a fun topic.
Porn.
Dear Fellow Readers,
Since I am currently in Florida with my two main readers (mom & dad), I assume there won’t be great upheaval if I don’t write a serious blog this week. (Am I ever that serious?) I wanted to take this afternoon off and soak up the sun, but since I went outside yesterday for one hour with no sun screen, I look like this.
(a fictitious letter)
Dear Fellow Friends of Rachel,
Did you know that infants, if put in a pool, start swimming naturally? It’s kind of scary to watch because, well, they are infants. What more can they do than sleep, eat, poop and cry? Letting go of an infant takes a huge amount of trust in the child’s natural instincts. Something we can’t see.
I thought this blog was finished when my friend came by my office this morning. I decided to include her story. She shared how she has been hurt by our Christian community here in Portland. I asked her why and she expressed how words had been said to her in harsh ways.
Writing is something I am still getting the hang of. I would rather sit on my couch with you and verbally process my thoughts and have you say, “You’re crazy, man” or start weeping and move into the fetal position because I just nailed your deepest darkest fear. Oops.
But since that won’t happen today…here are my thoughts…
I now know why I fell in love with my ex-boyfriend: He was a hugger. Ok, I fell in love with him for more than that. He made me laugh, doted on me, and had really strong arms. What? That’s not shallow. What would be shallow is if I told you I fell in love with him because he had a nose that was almost as adorable as mine. But back to the hugging thing… Fun Fact of the Day: Oxytocin is a chemical that …
It is not the arguments of theologians that solve the problems of a questioning heart, but the cry of that heart to me, and the certainty that I have heard. -God Calling In the summer of 2007 I felt a heaviness on my life. I wasn’t sure what it was but I felt it. Looking back on journals I saw that I was asking the Lord for direction. What that would look like, I didn’t know, but I asked to serve and help my generation, …
When I come into contact with people who’s writing or speaking I admire, I try to play it cool, but it never works. Like yesterday, I was at Pepperdine University and had the privilege of spending the entire day with a relationship researcher and author who has impacted me greatly. Before noon, I had already said the following: 1) “I read your book a year and a half ago and then I Facebooked your daughter.” 2) “We are your stalkers for the day…we will be …
Questions What are the implications of this on our generation? Our children? How many of you fast forwarded part of this and/or multi-tasked while it was playing?
10