Relationships
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I Love My Body – Unique Beauty
[Guest Post by Melissa Thomas] – When I was 4, I knew I wanted to grow up to be a ballerina. They have such a unique beauty. I used to dance in my parents living room. I would play Tchikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” and “Swan Lake,” and dream of being on stage with a giant tutu. I took dance lessons and learned how to twirl around, point my toes and stand in second position. When I was 11, I had my first seizure. I was waking up, getting ready to go with my family to breakfast. My dog jumped on my bed, excited to see me and greet me. I got…
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I Love My Body – Fat Girls
I once thought I had this really great idea for one of my next books. I wanted to call it: For All The Fat Girls: Who Never Thought Their Dreams Could Come True. Whew. Long title. It took me even longer to realize it was kind-of-offensive. Whoops. Maybe that’s because I was used to carrying around the label that: I Was Fat. One thing I know: labels might lie, but clothing labels sure don’t! Just try putting on a size 9 when you’re a ballooned sized 24. Yep. That was me in high school. Last week, I mentioned in more detail about my health issues related to eczema, and how…
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I Love My Body – Baby Bump
[Guest Post by Kimberly Davidson Campbell] – Weight gain and the numbers on the scale have always been a troublesome spot for my mind and heart. From the time I was in 3rd grade I remember disliking the school pictures for the year book. I always criticized them and stared at them wondering if there was anything beautiful I could find in them. I recently finished a 39+ week maternity photo shoot. I sat at our dining room table and started glancing through them, then sobbed uncontrollably and buried my head in my husband’s side. I hated all of them. Why? No, my hair was great and makeup looked good…
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One Year Anniversary
Today is my one year anniversary! I can’t believe how quickly time flies. I feel like I have learned so much about myself, Marc, and relationships in general. I can definitely say the transition from saangle (really single) to married has been fun, interesting, and tiring at times–but so worth it! As Marc and I approach our one year anniversary, I thought I would share 12 lessons I’ve learned since I said–I do. 1. Don’t Force Love Years before I got married, my friend Angela told me not to force a relationship with Ishmael for God would bless me with Isaac (Genesis 18:10-15). I always held this close to my…
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My Apologies
My apologies for writing on failure and not ending with a word of encouragement. In the moment I was feeling sorry for myself. I have learned since there is a difference between venting and sharing. Venting leaves the person with no hope, and sharing enters the author and the reader into a dialogue of hope. Maybe not right away, but eventually. What I’m not saying is that you have to tie a pretty red bow on something that hurts. What I am saying is sometimes you have to give your love away and not expect anything in return. I wasn’t expecting to receive a few straggling emails from folks asking…
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I Love My Body
[Guest Post by Chine Mbubaegbu] – I love my body. This is something I couldn’t have written this a few years ago. Because loving my body certainly has not come easily to me. You could say our love affair has been a tumultuous one. Sure, we’ve had some fleeting dalliances–the odd glance in the mirror where I’ve caught sight of it and approved. But on the whole, arriving at a place where I can say that I truly love my body has been a journey I’ve been traveling on most of my life. When you start writing about beauty and body image, as I have done, and you start telling…
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I Survived My 20s – Consequences
[Guest Post by Tish] – As a young girl, I dreamed of the day that my very own Prince Charming would sweep me off my feet. I never once imagined that at age 29, I would still be single and dealing with the consequences of Herpes. I grew up in a Christian home, memorizing verses from the Bible, practicing hymns on the piano, and dressing up in my Sunday best for Church every week. I believed in God, even felt His calling once in a while, but I was soon to learn how shallow my faith and understanding of His power was. The chinks in my armor started to show…
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Monday Meditations #4 – Ungrateful
[Guest Post by Ashley] – The past couple weeks I have found myself very down and ungrateful. Trying to keep it together on the outside but ready to burst into tears on the inside at any given moment. I moved to Nashville 4 years ago. When I moved here I didn’t see myself working a Monday – Friday 8-4 job. I wanted to do music. Isn’t that why everyone comes to Nashville? Not only that I thought that by now, by 29 I would be married, have a house, maybe talking about a family.. like I see so many of my friends doing… Neither of those things have happened and…
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I Survived My 20s – Unmarried
[Guest Post by Cathering Kabinga] – I once read an article that claimed that marriages between the ages of 20-27 are the most successful(still have it, don’t know why). Page after page only went out to prove that a marriage conducted in the early years of one’s life has the most potential of working out. Reasons ranged from having children and raising them while still young to handling finances together. The most memorable of them all cited the bible as one that encourages early marriages with the verse in Proverbs that speaks of ‘loving the wife of your youth.’ So why am I unmarried? I was 25 when I attended…
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I Survived My 20s – Dreams
[Guest Post by Caris Adel] – I love the movie Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. When I watch it, I relive my dream from high school. My dreams were to move to New York City and spend my 20s living the city life– whatever that meant. The issue of cost never did resolve itself. My more realistic plan was to get an apartment and go to school in a midwest town near my high school boyfriend. But alas, we ended up pregnant instead, giving birth right before his final exams his freshman year of college. We got married, and by the time we were 26, we had our fifth and…
