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Singleness Is NOT A Disease
[Guest Post] American culture values independence. Somewhere between my twenty-fifth and twenty-seventh birthdays, my status as a single man in the church downgraded from laudable to questionable. People stopped celebrating my singleness as a gift affording me undivided focus on performing God’s will (see I Corinthians 7) and began seeing it as a problem. They also began analyzing why I had failed to solve it. The message was clear: My “malady” of being single was somehow my fault. It wasn’t anything I did. It was what I didn’t do enough of. I didn’t do enough to prove my independence. American men who cannot demonstrate enough independence begin to feel weak…
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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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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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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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I'll Wait For You
I grew up listening to the songs “Wait For Me” by Rebecca St. James. In my quest to find love I often reflected on her words. Darling did you know that I I dream about you Waiting for the look in your eyes When we meet for the first time Darling did you know that I I pray about you Praying that you will hold on And keep your loving eyes only for me Darling did you know I dream about life together Knowing it will be forever I’ll be yours and you’ll be mine And darling when I say Till death do us part I’ll mean it with all…
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Love Speaks
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 14:1, NLT). Love speaks. It doesn’t clang. Or give off false hope. It doesn’t come up empty or count how many times you’ve come up short. Been embarrassed. Failed. Recently I started a book study called “Lazarus Awakening” by Joanna Weaver with my friend and author, Lisa Velthouse. It’s been a while since I’ve done a one-on-one study with someone and I’m really excited to dive in. We discussed Chapter One: Tale of the Third Follower last week. One of the…
