Scared of the New

Most of us like shiny new things of some sort: shiny new cars, unscuffed new shoes, crisp new dollar bills, and cool, new clothes. Yet when it comes to shiny new experiences, often we go meh no thanks. What is up with that? We don’t like the thought of blind dates (more often true of…

Review of Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters

I sure wish I’d had this book when my mother was still alive, as an older child. Cultural factors, conflicts, and much consternation filled my growing up years living with my mom. The woman who was supposed to be the adult, the maturing and nurturing one, lost herself over the years as she stayed in…

Shortcuts Christian Singles Take

Have you ever taken a shortcut thinking it was going to get you to your destination faster? The first time I ever did this bigly, I knew I was going to end up writing about it someday, and here it is. I was taking one of my first drives back from a vacation at my…

The Best Wrap You’ll Ever Have

“A hamburger without the bun? They call it a wrap?” A hamburger wrapped in lettuce instead of the traditional bun was a new thing years ago at one of my favorite old hangouts, In-and-Out Burger. They called it Protein Style. Incredible. I was a bit skeptical. I wasn’t convinced that healthy lettuce leaves could replace…

Practicing Accountability is Marriage Prep, Part 1 of 2

We’re pretty independent in the Western world. I consider myself very independent, sometimes refusing help from someone who offers to carry something for me when they see me hobbling. First-time visitors from eastern cultures are often amazed and shocked at the levels of self-sufficiency which we display. They don’t always think it’s good. Independence is…

For Those of Us Who Are Single and Content

  (Note: Today’s post is almost the opposite of last week’s!) It’s common knowledge that at least half of us are single, not just in the US but around the world, and many of us want to get married. When God created the first human, He realized that this creature did not have a corresponding…

When Your Life’s Not a Hallmark Movie

Years ago, I had a roommate who loved Hallmark movies. I never watch TV; I don’t even own one. I’d never heard of the Hallmark channel before, so I was intrigued. Were these merely televised versions of Harlequin romances? Were they as sappy as they sounded? I sat down to watch a few of them…

I Did Not Send Them, My Child

You have many influences in your life, My single child. You allow information to bombard you from social media, television and radio, friends, family, coworkers, and pastors. Through your eyes, I see the billboards, bumper stickers, junk mail, election information, T-shirts, and You Tube videos which you see. I even know each word of every…

An Overlooked and Eligible Candidate

In what is perceived as today’s shrinking pool of eligible and godly bachelors and bachelorettes, how is one to go about finding an acceptable candidate? Are there other pools to fish from, especially if your church doesn’t have a singles group? (Or your church does have a singles group and well… “There’s no one there!”)…

When Singles Suffer Well

When I was a relatively new Christian and just out of high school, there was this slightly older and very godly single woman in our fellowship that all of us younger women admired. She was tall, pretty, svelte, and sang beautifully, like a bird. She always had a gentle but radiant smile, even when things…