After 9 years of marriage, do I still like the one I vowed to love?
Author: Ashley Giovannucci
Ashley is a Christian, wife, and lover of life. When she's not event planning, she's working on a craft project or spending time with her husband, Joseph. Ashley co-founded Across My Heart Ministries in 2010 with her sister, Amber, while still in high school. She is passionate about sharing God's heart for purity and living life on purpose wherever she goes.
Why Did Jesus Have to Die? The Cross Section of God’s Justice and Love.
I can still picture the scene unfolding in my imagination as I read the Chronicles of Narnia for the first time. Edmund had fallen for the White Witch’s trap, and now he owed her a great debt. The dark creatures sneered as they crowded around the stone table, demanding that the sacrifice be made. I was just a girl at the time, but I questioned the allegorical narrative. Was the White Witch [Satan] the one to whom Aslan [Jesus] owed His life in order to set us free?
Maundy Thursday: The Last Supper
At my church, we celebrate the Passover together during Holy Week, remembering Jesus' Last Supper. The Passover was a celebration of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites, and God’s faithful promises were ultimately fulfilled through Christ! The Last Supper is especially significant because, when celebrating the Passover with His disciples, Jesus used the elements of bread and wine to symbolize something greater: his body and blood. The Last Supper was the first communion!
Holy Wednesday: Judas Chooses to Betray Jesus
On Wednesday, we remember how Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus. He negotiated with the Sanhedrin, the rabbinical court of ancient Israel, to turn Jesus over to them. How could one of Jesus's closest friends betray him? He had traveled with him, followed his footsteps, sat under his teachings, stayed up late talking in the night. Could he really turn his back on him like this?
Holy Tuesday: Jesus’ Final Teachings
Later in the day, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse, a prophetic description of Jerusalem’s destruction and the end of the age. He doesn't hold any punches. This is some intense stuff. He reveals His Second Coming and the Final Judgment through a series of parables.
Holy Week: Palm Sunday
“Hosanna!” literally translates to mean, “Pray, Save us!” But what were they expecting him to save them from?
You Were Born to Be a Mother: An Open Letter to Expectant Moms
Yes, our God knew that you would one day be a mother. He created the days ordained for you while you were still in your mother’s womb and this child is in yours. This beautiful baby growing inside of you isn’t just the result of human choice or perfect family planning but a God-ordained soul created by God for such a time as this. And He created you for this. There will be nights when you doubt yourself. When you wonder if you're cut out for this. There will be times when don't think the tears will ever stop, when the rush of postpartum hormones may seem like too much to handle. So I’m here to tell you, expectant mothers, do not doubt your God ordained purpose. You were created to be a mom
What God Has to Say about Our Bodies [Book Review]
If I were to ask you one thing you’d change about your body, chances are it wouldn’t take long to think of an answer. We all have things we dislike when we look in the mirror. Somewhere between the acne and the wrinkles, the growing pains and the body aches, it can be all too easy to think of our bodies as a nuisance rather than a gift. No matter what age you are.
Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self [Book Review]
"I am a woman trapped in a man's body." It’s a phrase you think you’d hear on a 2020 interview with Bruce, now Caitlyn, Jenner or perhaps on a TLC show chronicalizing the journey of teenage transgendered girl Jazz Jennings. But walk down any highschool hallway, and you’re likely to hear this sentiment being discussed. One hundred years ago, it would have been dismissed as illogical or delusional even. “Today it is a sentence that many in our society regard as not only meaningful but so significant that to deny it or question it in some way is to reveal oneself as stupid, immoral, or subject to yet another irrational phobia.” (Trueman, 19)
Pornography and Sex Trafficking: Biblical Justice from the Book of Amos
MODERN DAY INJUSTICE Pornography might seem like a harmless past time, safely tucked away in the privacy of your web browser. Many argue that it doesn’t hurt anyone. That porn can be ethically produced. But the porn industry and the sex trafficking industry are intrinsically connected. What happens on the screen isn’t always consensual, and … Continue reading Pornography and Sex Trafficking: Biblical Justice from the Book of Amos