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Friendship Quotes
Today my amazing husband Marc turns 29. If you recall, he wrote me a book on the 29 reasons why he loves Renee for my birthday in June. Since Marc is more of a private guy–I thought I’d return the favor by posting different 13 quotes on friendship. According to Timothy Keller’s book The Meaning of Marriage, Chapter 4 explores friendship as the mission of marriage. I hope you enjoy and are encouraged by these friendship quotes. 1. Christian friends…are to honestly confess their own sins to each other (James 5:16). 2. Christian friends…are to lovingly point out their friend’s sin if he or she is blind to them (Romans…
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My Confession
If conviction follows intention, then confession must follow both. This is my confession. Before I chicken out; I am taking the rest of the year off from speaking and writing my fourth book. The past few years I have been furiously working, writing, researching, and speaking towards 20-somethings. This girl needs a break. I finished the work, the race, and I sped my little heart out. My third book is done, minus edits. My second book is launched. Now it’s time to rest and wait on God to show me His glory. Exodus 33:3, NIV84 says, “Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not…
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Don't Just Guard Your Heart
At first, I wanted to name this Triple Threat–like last week. I’d post the 3 links and be done with it. Then I remembered my mom’s email to me. “Renee, don’t just call it Triple Threat. Where’s the threat? Call it Triple Treat because your writing is such a treat.” Aww. Mom. Thank you, but no! Instead, I am naming it Don’t Just Guard Your Heart because I wanted to let you know of a post I wrote featured on Relevant today entitled Why Guarding Your Heart Isn’t Enough. If you’ve ever had someone throw the phrase around like a punch to the face–I know you’ll appreciate it. *Next, I…
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Your Relationship Status
[Guest post by Jessica Bufkin] – And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. Don’t think I’m being harder on you than on the others. I give this same counsel in all the churches. (1 Corinthians 7:17 MSG) People mean well. Really, they do. But honestly, sometimes the things that they say, despite their well-meaning intentions, remain lodged in our minds for a very long time. For instance, your relationship status. My parents have never once poked or prodded…
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I'm NOT Pregnant
I’m not pregnant. Now that I have your attention, I want to tell you a story. I am no Martin Luther King, but I had a dream that I was pregnant in a warehouse full of women about to give birth. We were all expectantly waiting on God’s promises. The very next day at work (this was back in 2005), a lady came in for a job interview. She walked into the room where I was the office receptionist and asked me, “Are you pregnant?” At first I was shocked. Then horrified. I said “No!” and she quickly apologized, but said she sensed something in the Spirit. Mind you, I…
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Single Appreciation Day
Happy Single Appreciation Day! Notice I didn’t say singles appreciation day. But single. Our culture is obsessed with relationships, and I know because I’m one of them! I used to HATE Valentine’s Day because I was single. Charles Ringma writes, “We are surrounded by family and friends who have enriched our lives in various ways. Much has been given to us. But we receive more when we are thankful for all that God and others have given us. It is thankfulness that builds in us the capacity for generosity. Unthankfulness robs us of the benefits of the very thing we have received…life” (Seize The Day With Dietrich Bonhoeffer). I love…
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Marc's Thoughts on Dating
My husband and I were discussing the release of my book. I happened to ask him what his thoughts were on dating. He said he’d have to think about it, and knowing my husband, I knew he’d come up with something deep. Here are Marc’s 5 Thoughts on Dating: “If you pressed me to provide thoughts on dating you might be surprised on how little I would have to say. Of course men do not think in the same ways women do about these matters. Most of us guys have not dreamed about marriage since we were young, constantly thought about our knightness in shining armor, or kept a notebook of…
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Happy Endings Do Exist!
Happy Endings Do Exist! I have been searching for the words to write this blog for over a week now. The fact is, I have another book coming out. Today in fact. I am so beyond excited, but I am also scared. Will anyone read it? Will anyone be blessed? Will I get to hear the stories of personal transformation? I remember standing up on stage for my first book release party. I said something like, this is as good as it gets because I’m probably never getting married so I better enjoy the spotlight now! WRONG. I was so fed up when I wrote Not Another Dating Book. I…
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God's Calling
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”. C.S. Lewis I just love that quote. It reminds me in a very powerful way that God’s call on our lives is real. It’s tangible. Something we can taste, touch, feel, and see. And it’s not something so far out of our grasp that we’ll fail. Failure. Every time I tried to manage my schedule the past couple weeks–I’ve failed. I just wasn’t doing a good enough job. When my panic attacks came back, I felt like a big fat one–failure that is.…
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Deal Breakers
What are your deal breakers in dating? Do you just hate it when a guy blasts the music too loud when you’re in his car? Or when a girl can’t seem to tear herself away from texting on her cell phone long enough to say hello? Maybe you’d never date someone who smokes, doesn’t laugh at your jokes, or has a lot of baggage from a previous relationship. It’s no question: Everyone has deal breakers in a relationship–beliefs we’re not willing to compromise. But what does the Bible say our deal breakers should be? [Not Another Dating Book, Harvest House, (C) 2012, page 34] That is just an excerpt…
