One of the stinkiest fruits in the world is the infamous durian. Its stench has been compared to sewage, vomit, and dirty socks. It only grows in tropical climates in Southeast Asia, thank God! When I was a summer missionary in the Philippines, I had to hold my nose to sample a tiny piece. Eeewwwyuu!…
When you were a little kid, did you and your siblings ever sneak out of bed into the living room late at night to hear what the grown-ups were talking about? Maybe you hung back in the shadows and darted behind an overstuffed chair, then listened intensely. Sometimes there were serious words in low tones.…
Have you ever had a friend, maybe even a long-term friend from childhood or college, turn on you? I sure the heck have. Here you thought you two were cool and there weren’t any major issues. Then you started seeing warning signs that your long-term friend wasn’t so cool. Perhaps you confided in her, and…
I’m probably taking dating too seriously, because I don’t date much. I can number all the men I’ve dated on my fingers. Having a more serious, contemplative personality makes me take a long time to decide almost anything. The bigger the decision, the slower I am about it. The fact that I’m about 60% introvert…
Last week, I shared my experience with the 5-Day Challenge to Pray For Your Future Spouse. It wasn’t so much praying for a mate, but being ready for a real marriage. #pfyfs sparked all sorts of positive responses from hundreds of participants who realized how much they needed it. I got nearly all of this…
Cozy. Safe enough to explore a feisty topic like courage. Strengthened enough to go out there and do it! That’s what I felt while I was reading through La-Tan Roland Murphy’s latest book, Courageous Women of the Bible. La-Tan didn’t cover all the usual suspects, the women who are typically lauded as courageous women in…
When I was a kid, we used to go grocery shopping at the commissary all afternoon and buy a carload of food. Kids, would you believe it? Back in a day, $55 filled up the trunk and half the back seat of a huge car that was almost a boat (the old, 4-door Gran Torino—anyone…
I have read a lot of books on being a Christian single, marriage, and marriage prep. I mean that. The best one I have read in a really long time is Debra Fileta’s Choosing Marriage. “Why would I want to read a book called Choosing Marriage when I’m not married? I’m not even dating anyone…
Last week, I shared lessons I learned from Hannah for us Christian singles from 1 Samuel 1 through 2:11. I went over these first two ideas last week: 1. There’s always a background that others won’t understand, but God knows. 2. Go to God with your pain first, not people. Read the entire thing here: https://glendablogz.com/2018/07/24/from-nope-to-hope-part-1-of-2/…
I was reading 1 Samuel 1 through 2:21 this afternoon, about Hannah and her desire to have a son. The biggest thing that jumped out at me was the fact that the Lord had closed up Hannah’s womb (1 Sam. 1:5). When she married the love of her life, Elkanah, she thought she was going…
