What if my friend is marrying the wrong person?
Giving and receiving wise counsel during serious life decisions can be really healthy since we’re called to live in community, and deciding who to marry can be one of those decisions. However, it can be tricky to navigate what to do when we think a friend might be making a mistake. I’ve told an engaged friend they were […]
Craigslist Friends
The idea that God can work “right where you are” sounds great, but it takes faith! A few years ago, even as Meaghan and I were figuring out life after graduation – marriage, new careers and home ownership – we wanted to be making some type of ministry impact, but we felt lost about how […]
Single and Loving It?
The first time I read the Bible front-to-back was when I was a college sophomore in Boulder, Colorado. That was also the first time that I learned the Bible had positive things to say about singleness. I’d grown up going to church, Bible camp and youth group, yet I’d never heard a message or done […]
Christmas is a Collision of Worlds
Within a few weeks of throwing my lot in with Jesus, I pledged a sorority. It was a collision of worlds. I was an ignorant freshman, a fledgling Christian and a freshly-minted sorority girl. I look around at my new sorority sisters. Hmm, we all look the same. Young, white, well-dressed women, from good-enough families, […]
The Deafening Sound of Silence
I hesitate to write about the racial issues that are plaguing this country because, as a White woman, I feel like I have little to say. And let’s be honest, I am nervous about saying the wrong thing. But my silence is deafening. At least to my Black friends. I am quick to cry over […]
I Knew You’d Ask
Though it’s late December, I just lived through Groundhog’s Day again. (If you haven’t seen the movie, in Groundhog’s Day, Bill Murray keeps living through the same day until he “gets it right” and breaks the cycle.) In my case, I was talking with a student who’s trapped in a cycle of sexual sin. It’s a conversation I’ve […]
Community: Not a Replacement for God
Let me be very direct. Why is it that with just about everything, God and others are the focus, but when it comes to community, it’s very easy for things to become all about us? Whether it is intimacy or vulnerability, support or whatever, community can become about what we need. And if we don’t […]
Confessions of an Introvert
I recently asked a friend if he’d like to join a Bible study at my church. We’d been friends a while, and he’d attended my church a couple times. I knew he was living alone, not really committed to anything. His response? “No thanks. I’m good. I prefer to be alone anyway.” Say what?? It’s […]
