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Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Introduction Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #1 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #2 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #3 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #4 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #5 Question My friend of the opposite sex is in a committed relationship now. Can we still be friends? My Response Questions Have you experienced this type of rare, special friendship? How can we gracefully transition the nature of our friendships through the various …
Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Introduction Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #1 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #2 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #3 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #4 Question My boyfriend (or girlfriend) has issues with me being friends with this particular person of the opposite sex. How should I handle it? My Response P.S. Here was yesterday’s Facebook preview for today’s post thanks to our video guy having too much time on his hands and too much …
Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Introduction Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #1 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #2 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #3 Caveat corner: Do not read my words below and use them as an excuse to open an unhealthy door you know you shouldn’t. In my work I’ve found that it’s often the people who need to be separated from their exes who are the ones finding all the excuses in the world to BE friends with their …
Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Introduction Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question # 1 Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question #2 Question If we are always hanging out together, will anyone else ever ask me out? My Response Last year I was flipping through the channels and landed on some show whose title is escaping me. My gut tells me it was The Tyra Banks Show. I know. I wish I couldn’t remember either. There were two “dating experts” being interviewed. I use dating …
Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Introduction Can Guys & Girls Be Friends? Question # 1 Question My friend has feelings for me, but I don’t feel the same. Now what? My Response Let me preface my response by acknowledging that I responded to the first Friends Post with questions, and am doing it again here. You’re sick of thought-provoking lists, I KNOW. I promise this is the last time. The other posts are going to be full of free lottery tickets, Caribbean cruise giveaways, and …
We’ve all heard the question “can guys and girls be friends?” Can you? (If you missed the introduction to this series, start HERE.) There are four levels of friendship: 1. acquaintance 2. casual 3. close 4. intimate Not defining what type of friendship we are talking about is what has made the “can guys and girls be friends?” question so widely debated. All the possible scenarios can make you want to gouge out your eyeballs with a fork. You will have to figure out what …
I’ve had an interesting revelation lately. When I’m injured, I’m reminded I am single. Natural correlation, right? Injured tailbone, foot, and now shoulder. Back-to-back-to-back. Everything was bearable but enough pain to keep me from biking much at all this summer. And sitting? Couldn’t do much of that for a month. As I was walking to church in a sling a couple Sundays ago, I started thinking about how I want to remember this feeling of “not having any help.” Sure, I have tons of wonderful friends (thanks, …
Ask Joy How can we respond to young people who want to live together before marriage? I am referring to my son and other friends in their late 20’s. I am trying to be quiet and work with it but it is very awkward. What do you say to young people about this topic? Would you recommend any books or speakers? My Response I want to answer this question looking at your relationship with your son and the people we deal with personally. My heart …
Ask Joy A person who wrote in recently found a quote, stating that “a girl’s heart should be so wrapped up in the Lord, that a guy should have to seek Him to find her.” And then she asked me if I agreed with that? My Response Questions Do you think it’s true that you can experience an “intimacy” with the Lord that supercedes anything you can experience with a person? Why or why not? Have you said or heard this quote yourself? How has …
Ask Joy Is the right thing at the wrong time actually the wrong thing? My Response The video below was part of, what I affectionately call, my Paddle Board Series, shot spontaneously by my brother while I was in Michigan. Now, weeks after the shoot, I can’t shake this question; the more I contemplate it, the more different scenarios play out in my mind. Just a few that could fall under the “right thing, wrong time” umbrella include, the other person is: married; lives across …
Guys: Since we know there may be varying opinions due to different personalities, I thought it might be good to directly ask you this question so you could shed some light for our female readers. It’s along the lines of the question I answered a few weeks ago in an Ask Joy Video. (See video here: Part One & Part Two) Ask Joy I met an amazing man last month who I really like a lot! How do I let him know I’m interested in …
Ask Joy How do I know if I’ve heard from God before entering into a relationship? My Response (Note: We shot these very last minute before I left Michigan. We didn’t do a sound check hence the poor audio. However, my brother IS a fantastic videographer and I am so grateful for his help when I am home in the mitten state. Check out his site: Motivity Pictures) Questions Does waiting to hear from God ever paralyze you from making decisions? Do you even incorporate God …
This summer I attended what I imagine business people calling a “power lunch.” I was invited by the core team of 4-Word women. All the other women were in their work attire, and I showed up with my bike helmet. Oops. One of the incredible women I met was Stephanie. Thanks to my helmet in tow, I found out she also loves to ride. We set out on our bikes one day after work and found ourselves in Camas, Washington breaking for dinner at the fantastic Twilight …
Ask Joy I met this guy and I have a big crush on him, but I know the Bible says that men are supposed to pursue women. So should I just give up on my crush? Should I just drop it? Who Pursues? Part 1 My Response I think that fear is at the root of why we deny our desire to pursue or be pursued. Question What has been your experience? Men: What prevents you from pursuing? Women: What motivates you to pursue?
Since I just traveled to Oxford and spent time spying on C.S. Lewis’s home, college and almost every pub he dined in, I thought it only fitting that I highlight a couple parts from his chapter titled “Christian Marriage” in Mere Christianity. I suggest you read the whole chapter but I have noted a few of my own thoughts and would love to hear yours! Part I: On Love What we call ‘being in love’ is a glorious state, and, in several ways, good for …
First: This picture kills me. Partly because she looks like she just turned seven years old, and partly because my face is indicative of events that would follow 4.28 minutes later. This was taken the first week at a place in Switzerland called L’abri. Erin talked me into sledding down the side of an alp and 4.19 minutes later I thought it would be a good idea to sled…STANDING UP. 4.28 minutes later I had broken my ankle. Little did I know my photo face would …
Ask Joy I don’t think it’s fair that my boyfriend at college might go home some weekends to see his family, when I can’t see mine because they live too far away. I don’t want him going home without me. What should I do? My Response If I were talking with your boyfriend, I wouldn’t tell him to break up with you…yet. Question Okay, so it’s easy to laugh at this question, but if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve all had moments of responding with pouting …
Ask Joy I have been in a great relationship with my boyfriend for three years. I can’t picture myself with anyone but him. Recently, many of my friends have either gotten engaged, gotten married, or had babies. I feel like I am the odd woman out. I am eager to get married and continue the next stage of my life. When I discuss marriage with my boyfriend, he usually says, “Patience is a virtue,” and leaves it at that. I want to speed things up, …
Ask Joy I’m interested in this great person. All my friends say, “Be open to the relationship…but guard your heart.” What does that actually mean? My Response Questions In relationships have you ever done the wise thing over the pain free thing? Since most people associate “guarding your heart” with playing it safe, how does one guard his/her heart by the video’s definition? Any other phrases like “guard your heart” that cause you to pause and think, “Hmmm, what does that actually mean?” p.s. Confused …
I want to answer this question in three parts. Let’s be honest, it’s all finished and ready to go, but we are all A.D.D. and can’t handle reading anything longer tha…I wonder if I should update my Facebook status to “catching up on my blog reading!” Welcome back. As I was saying. Here is the beginning of three short parts… Ask Joy How do I talk to my boyfriend about his temptations? I haven’t seen anything or experienced anything with him that makes me concerned, …
Ask Joy How can I stop from getting emotionally attached to boys on Facebook? It has become a vicious cycle for me with different guys. Please help me! My Response First I want to honor you for being introspective and aware that this is happening to you. My guess is you’re not alone, but most people aren’t intuitive enough to recognize. Well done. However, if you believe it’s unhealthy and “vicious,” I think most people would conclude you should shut down Facebook. Trust me, the …
Ask Joy Why do women want to get married? As a woman, I don’t grasp it myself and certainly could never see getting married before I’m 25 or how it would be important. My Response Guess what is so cool? You don’t have to get married! Just make sure you don’t make flippant comments without thinking about the repercussions of them. Men will hear your mantra of not wanting to get married, and if at age 25 you all of a sudden decide to change …
Don’t shed a tear because it’s the final “Monday-One-Day”. You can always re-watch Parts 1 & 2 every single day until YouTube implodes. The One: Part 1 – “Is There Only One” The One: Part 2 – “How Do I Know?” In Part 3 I will tackle how I have felt called to respond when it feels like there is NO-one. So what do you think?
It’s another “Monday-One-Day” and if you missed The One: Part 1 – “Is There Only One” make sure to check it out. In today’s video there is a little less wind machine and a little more male vocals. Yes, I am an alto by birth. So, what do you think? P.S. Post I referenced in the video: Can Anxious Andy Commit? WATCH: Part 3: What if there is NO one?
Some of you ask me questions that I feel I can answer in 140 characters or less. Yes, I value your questions that much. Truly, I do wish I could sit with you face-to-face and answer your questions—no matter how weird they (or you) are. Since I can’t, Twitter allows me to answer some in a quick way that might give you some direction, make you think, make you laugh, or make you want to send a bomb to my house. Please don’t. “But Joy, …
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