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An Introvert Living In An Extrovert World
[Monthly Columnist- Rebekah Synder. I appreciate the fact that I am able to challenge Rebekah without even realizing it. I just simply ask her to post on something I think she would be great at, and then before I know it she’s tweeting me about how it’s the one thing she never wanted to write on. I say it’s all God. Enjoy her piece.] During my teen years, my parents called me the hermit. Whenever I would surface from spending hours alone in my room, they would make a big deal about the hermit coming out of her cave, and I would simply roll my eyes, polish off a peanut…
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Living By Myself
[Guest Post by Jessica Baumgardner. Jessica and I connected on Facebook and I asked her to write a piece on living together by herself. She thought I was crazy, but I’m so glad she did! She has a big heart and has been through a lot. I think we could all learn a lot from her, actually!] I have always believed in God my entire life, but I never had a relationship with Him or even knew what that meant. I was forced to go to church when I was younger and I did not understand anything about it. My parents finally stopped making us go once I got to…
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Living Together Through The Worst
[Guest Post by Sarah Markley. I met Sarah a few years ago at a Starbucks in Orange County. She and I both graduated from Biola University and have been blogging for many years. I finally got her to write a piece on community (a topic she is definitely passionate about). I hope you are encouraged!!] I’ve lived with my husband for almost seventeen years. He’s seen me at my worst (and best) and I have seen him at his. If you really want a good example of community, look at any married couple. Or any family for that matter. In any nuclear family there are three, four or ten individuals…
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Quarter Life Conference LIVE today
Quarter Life Conference +Watch Party Click here to watch Quarter Life Conference starting at 8 PM EST. If you’re busy on March 21st (which is totally understandable), you can still bookmark the link to watch later. +Event Guide I have created a FREE .PDF to follow along with Annie Downs, Bill & Pam Farrell, Justin & Trisha Davis, Gary Thomas, Joy Eggerichs, and Dr. Gary Chapman. Download that here. +Free Books We will be giving away a free copy of Not Another Dating Book by Renee Fisher, She’s Got Issues by Nicole Unice, and Beyond Ordinary by Justin & Trisha Davis. Enter to win here.
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Should We Live Together Before Marriage?
[Guest Blog by Pam and Bill Farrel. Pam is my mentor and has gone above and beyond to help me publish my first three books. They are also one of my upcoming speakers at Quarter Life Conference. Don’t forget to register here.] Should we live together before marriage? The whole area of how to know you are in love, how to know if this is Mr. Right or Ms. Right, then how far to progress sexually at what commitment level seems to be a grand mystery in today’s world. Often couples today are opting for a live-in, cohabiting arrangement. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, cohabitation increased 533 %…
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Infatuation Makes Us Very Vulnerable
[Guest Post by Gary Thomas. I’m very excited for him to share on the blog today as he is one of my heroes (he doesn’t know that yet). My husband Marc and I went through Sacred Marriage in our pre engagement counseling and believe in his message. He is also one of my upcoming speakers at Quarter Life Conference, a free online conference for the 20/30-somethings on Thursday. Register here for free.] Not only are you stupid when you’re infatuated, but you also become extremely vulnerable. I’m speaking as a pastor who has witnessed the tremendous pain that romanticism has led so many people into. Psychologically, “hearts broken from lost…
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Living Together In The Military
[Guest post by Tracy Steel. We met online (where else?), and quickly became friends after we realized we both shared similar stories of staying single for longer than we both wanted too. Her story is quite touching and I couldn’t wait to have her share about her life in the military.] Loving and living with a military man is no easy task. I realize that you may not be married, or living together in the military– yet all of us are called to love the spouse, family, or friend we live with. This is no easy task either! But based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, here is what living with my…
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Living Together: In Sickness And In Health
[Monthly Columnist – Wendy van Eyck] – “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galations 6:2 (ESV)” My husband and I started living together on the 16th of April 2011. The same day that we stood in front of 30 friends and family, and promised to love and honour each other, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health. Moving in with my new husband, was great fun, and for us fairly easy. There were unexpected things: disagreements about whether the bathroom seat should be up or down, about where it was appropriate to cut toenails, and how the chairs should be arranged. Of…
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Moving Back Home With Parents
[Guest post by Diana Palka] – There’s really no glamorous way to come to terms with moving back home with parents. It’s not that it’s a wretchedly horrific concept–in fact, I didn’t think much of it until I was here. But once the excitement of graduation fizzled away and I settled into a non-academia life for the first time in 22 years, it hit me. All of the sudden, there was this abrupt realization that I’d entered the front end of a cumbersome transition from a built-in community to a community-less environment. It’s a transition that no one talks about. Without anticipation, life was a little lonely. Instead of spending nights in…
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How We Do Life Together
What does it mean to do life together? This question has challenged me to think deeply, exposing things within my heart that are both frustrating, yet clarifying, as I take a good look at myself. How do I live with others? How does that play out within my own marriage covenant and within the four corners of this home I share with my ever-growing children? While there are many definitions for life, perhaps mine could best be summarized in two short statements: be real and live closely. There is no place where the real me shines more brightly than at home, which is not always a positive for the other…
