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78 Reasons To Write Your Story
78 Reasons To Write Your Story I have been blessed to host 78 guest bloggers since April, 2010, and I hope to keep adding to the list. Why? Because I believe it’s important to share your story. In fact, I believe God calls us to write. Twice in Scripture it says, Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does (1 Chronicles 16:24 & Psalm 96:3). I hope each and every quote will push you over the edge to where you finally have NO MORE EXCUSES but to write. Whether you write in the privacy of your own journal, an online blog, social media,…
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On Dating: I Said No
I didn’t want to tell my story–the one where I said no and he didn’t stop. On a cold, dark day in February, 2006–it happened. A new coworker asked me to drinks after work. He seemed harmless enough, and I honestly didn’t think twice about saying yes. We drove to a nearby brewery and each ordered one drink. One drink too many. One drink for a supposedly “friendly” coworker to turn aggressive. I don’t know why I agreed to take one car. My car. After drinks he asked me to go to the beach. I reluctantly said yes because it was cold, and because I thought he said dinner would…
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Practicing Hospitality
During the past few months I’ve been practicing hospitality on my blog and in real life. First, I started with letting people share their stories. Then, I moved on to asking others to help me define the meaning of true friendship. Next, I asked others to write and answer pre engagement questions. Then I turned 30, and wanted to know if I was the only one who survived my 20s. After I lost weight, I released my latest series on why I love my body and asked others to share their stories too. Practicing hospitality means inviting, welcoming, and allowing two or more people to share with each other. Maybe…
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I Love My Body – Thighs
[Guest Post by Angela McNeil] – Thunder Thighs, more cushion for the pushin’, child bearing hips, Saddlebags… I can go on and on about the names I was called throughout my life–it didn’t stop at high school. Even when I was on the swim team super active in sports, the comments still came about my thighs. It was even more frustrating because, being a child of the 90’s I wanted a pair of Guess Jeans but they weren’t styled for curves. I have always thought pants would fit better if I got rid of my saddlebags. Many of moments in the dressing room with tears because a dress didn’t fit…
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I Love My Body – Hands and Feet
Hands and feet are the two body parts I used to hate and wish I never had. The two body parts that–along with my head–cost me almost ten years of my life. I’ve shared my story before and I’ll share it again. It was because of severe eczema that took the skin off my feet, face, and hands. I also gained one hundred pounds in ten months from taking Prednisone to control my skin. So when I say I love my body–it’s nothing short of a miracle! There were many times I felt like giving up or wishing I had someone else’s body or body parts. I always felt like…
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I Survived My 20s – Fatherless
[Guest Post by Anonymous] – From a very young age, I knew the Lord. I was lucky to have grown up in the church, and was strong in my faith. God knew that he had to prepare me at an early age for what I would be up against. Secrecy. Shame. Pain. I am fatherless. As a teenager I was forced to hold a terrible secret, one I knew when change my life forever if I ever spoke of it. I did all that I could to hide the hurt of what happened to me. I walked through life as if in a dream or a daze, and put a…
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I Survived My 20s – Rape
[Guest Post by Laura] – Finally at the age of twenty six–I was settling into my own apartment in a country that I loved to do the ministry that God had called me to do. With the help of teammates I had successfully managed to purchase a car, appliances, furniture and other necessities. While these are things that most people do earlier in their twenties, my early twenties had been spent moving between countries and ministries, always living in a furnished apartment or at my parents. The next day was a staff meeting, and I was looking forward to suggesting a few ministry ideas that I had. Plus, I had…
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I Survived My 20s – Moving
[Guest Post by Marie Osborne] – I survived my 20s by moving over and over and over again. In 2004, I was married to my best friend and at an amazing church. We had a fantastic support system of friends and family. The next 3 years, my job just kept getting better, our friendships deeper, our family closer, and our marriage stronger. Then in 2006, we decided my husband should go back to school. So we moved to Los Angeles for two years as he completed his MBA. Suddenly, our deep roots were gone, and I didn’t know a soul. I had worked hard for 6 years to build an…
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I Survived My 20s – Singleness
[Guest Post by Monique Pearson] – Trust in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. If you’ve grown up in the church you’ve probably heard this a lot. For me the desire of my heart was to be married and well it still is. Since I was a little girl I was told to pray and ask God to bring the perfect future husband into my life. I knew I wanted to be married at some point so I had faith and believed that God would bring the right man. When I started to date around the age of 25 I really prayed about who…
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I Survived My 20s – Cancer
[Monthly Columnist – Wendy van Eyck] – My husband has cancer. I find myself wanting to insert this sentence into every conversation that I have. It doesn’t really matter what the conversation is about. It could be that the cashier says, “That’ll be 3.25 please”. In reply, I blurt out, “My husband has lymphoma”. Or I could be on the phone with a supplier telling me that they are upset about something and I hear a conversation in my head saying, “Do you think I really care? My husband has cancer!” I want everyone to know. I need to share this tragedy, this heartbreak, this disruption. I’ve thought about how…
