Churches have a profound opportunity to influence the decision-making process of mothers facing unplanned pregnancies. By rooting their advocacy in scripture and providing comprehensive, compassionate support, churches can embody the same kind of love and grace Jesus showed. To love one's neighbor as oneself includes the unborn and their mothers.
Rather than freaking out over every minor imperfection, they look to the only One who is Perfect - Jesus Christ. The desire to be like Him is perhaps the most important quality of all. Together, they encourage and support one another to become more like Christ every day!
I consider Tami to be a personal mentor of mine, so it's no wonder I wanted to feature her #truelovestory on our blog! She and her husband Paul have led the young parenting class at our church for years! And there is always something I glean from their love for God and their life experience. … Continue reading Seeing God’s Provision Through People | Tami’s True Love Story
Every mom will tell you that birth is an incredibly emotional experience, divinely ordained to usher new life into this world. As a mother, your body is the very vessel that God uses to create something beautiful. You get to participate with God in the creation of life. There are few things more humbling and awe-inspiring. And yet, for me, death has never felt as threatening as the moments surrounding birth. With each delivery there has been something acutely painful, shocking or traumatic that has occurred, reminding me that birth, like everything else, has been marked by the Fall.
After 9 years of marriage, do I still like the one I vowed to love?
Both of these Corinthian women are only mentioned once in Scripture, but there is much to discover about their life and role in the early church. Though it’s easy to skip over their verses, these names hold special meaning to me personally because they are the names of my two daughters, Chloe & Phoebe.
When we realized we’d likely be spending our anniversary in the hospital, Joseph grabbed the only thing within reach… a notepad the nurses had given us. We’d been using it to jot down questions for the doctors and any notes we wanted to remember from morning rounds. It certainly wasn’t a fancy, embellished Hallmark card, but it might be my favorite anniversary letter to date. Because it was real, raw, scribbled with the pressure of a ballpoint pen and the weight of the moment.
While I am sure Mary trusted God to be faithful as she bore His son, she knew that she was putting her reputation, marriage, and family status on the line. She knew that no one would believe her if she told them the truth. And she knew that people would treat her differently if she went through with it. Yet she was faithful.
So many of us girls love a good romance story. We love the drama, the beauty, the glamor, the excitement and the passion. There’s something so compelling about the story arc of two people falling in love. We’re so drawn to this kind of narrative that I think we often subconsciously read it into the story of Esther. Hers is a classic princess story, right? She’s gorgeous, wins a whole beauty contest, and catches the eye of the king, who chooses to take her as his wife. It sounds picturesque, right? But this romanticized version is simply untrue, no matter how badly we wish it were a classic princess romance story.
Growing up I learned that God wants us to be kind, love one another, and respect authority. Somehow along the way I incorrectly adapted that message into that I should not “ruffle any feathers” and instead I should seek to make "peace" in all situations. I became very shy aside from the rare occasion I simply could not stop myself from speaking out against injustice, but even then it was often in a whisper tone
