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.
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?
We live in a culture of death. I really can’t believe how difficult it is to convince people that life is worth protecting. Raising these babies, literally bringing life into this world, is the greatest form of resistance I have.
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.
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.
Your dad and I had had barely left the hospital with you In tow before rushing back to the emergency room. There wasn’t time to meet your extended family or settle into your daily routine. There was no time to heal at home or acclimate to our new life as a family of four. Our days would soon be colored with the neon glow of beeping monitors and the fluorescent lights of the Pediatric ICU. Simply put, it was not the maternity leave I had hoped for or imagined I'd be spending with you...
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
It’s late Spring and the sun is high in the Israeli sky. Ruth bends down to collect pieces of barley dropped by the harvesters. She is a foreigner in this land and a childless widow. Fortunately, Israel has provisions in its law made for people like her, a woman with little lot in life, so she can glean in this field, and at least she won’t starve. When she returns home, the only one to greet her will be her mother-in-law, Naomi. A woman who too has seen loss: a husband and two sons. Naomi now desires to be referred to as Marah, which means bitter.
