-
Living Together: In Sickness And In Health
[Monthly Columnist – Wendy van Eyck] – “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galations 6:2 (ESV)” My husband and I started living together on the 16th of April 2011. The same day that we stood in front of 30 friends and family, and promised to love and honour each other, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health. Moving in with my new husband, was great fun, and for us fairly easy. There were unexpected things: disagreements about whether the bathroom seat should be up or down, about where it was appropriate to cut toenails, and how the chairs should be arranged. Of…
-
Moving Back Home With Parents
[Guest post by Diana Palka] – There’s really no glamorous way to come to terms with moving back home with parents. It’s not that it’s a wretchedly horrific concept–in fact, I didn’t think much of it until I was here. But once the excitement of graduation fizzled away and I settled into a non-academia life for the first time in 22 years, it hit me. All of the sudden, there was this abrupt realization that I’d entered the front end of a cumbersome transition from a built-in community to a community-less environment. It’s a transition that no one talks about. Without anticipation, life was a little lonely. Instead of spending nights in…
-
How to Start An Online Magazine
10 tips How to start an online magazine. When I started blogging on xanga, I wasn’t sure what I was doing, which is why I only posted 3-5 times. When I started a blogspot account, I had no idea it would merge with Google and then no longer be considered the “cool” place to be (see: WordPress.org). But. My growth exploded on blogspot. I posted over 400 devotionals, and it’s also where I found my calling–writing devotionals and articles that encourage and spur others forward (Hebrews 10:24). My blog is also the place where my writing turned from hobby to business, and then to an online ministry. I realized if…
-
Moving Out and Living On Your Own
A day or so after I decided on the theme for March–I read an article in the February 2013 issue of Marie Claire that caught my attention. It was written by a young and witty woman named Lauren Mechling. In her article House Mate, she says, “At 26, I moved into a typical Brooklyn apartment–two bedrooms connected by a windowless living room–with a good friend…When we signed the lease, my roommate was nursing a broken heart and wanted a fresh start. But a few months later, her ex started to appear with increasing frequency, lounging on the sofa and strumming a guitar in his pajamas. One afternoon, a month before…
-
The Benefits of Living Together
Around Christmas time, I was walking Star–my dog–and stopped to talk to my neighbor. I told him how excited I was that this was going to be my second Christmas with Marc. His immediate question was, “So when are you getting married?” Shocked, I said that we were already married. His next reaction was priceless. “Good. As it should be.” Wait, what? Why is it that we presume all young adults who are living together aren’t married? Maybe because less and less people delay marriage until they’re in their upper 20’s and early 30’s. Maybe because young adults in church look (and act) no different from those not in church.…
-
On Anxiety: Why I'm Not Ready For Kids
I’m not ready for kids because I have anxiety. I never thought I’d share this information publicly, but I never thought I’d be married and dealing with this problem privately. As some of you already may know, I was single for 12 years, 10 months, and 24 days. That’s a long time to forget about having children. Also long enough to realize I probably won’t have more than one or two kids when I do get married. I’m 30, so it’s not like I don’t time to figure out this kid business. I never realized my doctor would tell me I shouldn’t have kids. It’s not enough to know that…
-
On Anxiety: Celiac Disease
[Guest Post by Casey] – At the age of 24, I had everything I wanted; and all of a sudden, none of it meant anything. I had just finished up my master’s degree, received a great job offer and moved in with my boyfriend of three years after dealing with long distance most of our relationship. If I wasn’t feeling anxious, I wasn’t feeling anything at all. I dreaded going out; I was snapping at loved ones and it took every ounce of discipline I had to drag myself out of bed. Nothing was fun anymore, including me. There was no Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I was straight up…
-
Anxiety is a Gift
[Guest Post by Teri Antti] – Anxiety is a Gift? Yes! A Blessing! I once read that true peace can only be sustained when what you say, what you believe and what you do are all the same thing. At the time I read this anonymous quote, my thoughts, beliefs and actions were as far from being aligned as you could possible imagine. I was in a season during which my anxiety was at an all time high. I could not leave my house. Fear had found its way into every ounce of my being. I was rapidly loosing the confidence to even parent my three daughters. I had a…
-
On Writing: Interview with Jeff Goins
I wasn’t going to post this week since I started working on my fourth manuscript, but was delighted to hear from Jeff Goins. This month’s series on writing was all about helping new authors learn to Start Writing Now #StartWritingNow. Also, if you missed the series, I posted an easy way to view all of them on Pinterest. I hope this month’s series has been encouraging–and I wanted to say thanks again to all those who contributed. You are a blessing to me. Here is my recent interview with Jeff Goins on the subject of writing. “What would you say are the five most important tips to starting a writing…
-
On Writing: Can You Still Pay The Rent (and Utilities)?
[Guest Post by Allison Vesterfelt] – A few years ago I quit my job because I wanted to write a book. A book. I write it that way because that’s how I saw it in my mind. So much drama, so much mystery. Writing a book (you have to say it that way if you want to understand) was going to be the best thing I had ever done in my life. Quitting my job happened because someone asked me this question: “What would you do with your life if you didn’t have to worry about money?” My answer to the question was, obviously, that I would travel across the country…
