• inspiring quote

    stop quitting

    Monday, February 2, 2015

    We all have the tendency to be quitters. We quit when things get hard, quit when we don’t feel like it, quit when there’s opposition, and quit because it’s Tuesday. But why do we quit? Sometimes it’s because we allow people’s words to make us feel like we don’t have what it takes. Like we’re […]

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  • woman in mirror

    big thighs, blue dresses, and self-love

    Tuesday, September 9, 2014

    Under the bright dressing-room lights at Target, I try on countless outfits. I am seven months pregnant. My body looks different now with new curves and indentions and a belly that swells each day. “I am really pregnant” I think and put on long blue dress, hoping it won’t look as bad as the others. I turn […]

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  • girl with a map

    What do you really want?

    Tuesday, July 29, 2014

    What do you really want? It is a husband? A job? A group of friends? A healthy baby? A certain life path? It’s a simple question, but one I think we avoid asking because we’re afraid of speaking aloud the answer. Because when we don’t want anything, then we can’t get our hopes up, which in […]

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  • Real Men Don't Text

    Real Men Don’t Text Book Club

    Wednesday, November 6, 2013

    I’ve received several emails from people saying how great Real Men Don’t Text is to talk through as a group. One group even invited me to join them for their last study. How fun! If you are in a book club, at a college, in a Bible study, a youth leader, a mom in a […]

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  • man giving flowers

    Forgiveness Won’t Fix Your Toxic Relationship

    Monday, November 4, 2013

    I recently had coffee with a victim of an emotionally abusive relationship. Every time she was ready to leave him after an outburst, he would return the next day and apologize profusely, sometimes with flowers or big displays of affection, begging her for forgiveness. After her somewhat unemotional description of his violent behavior, she asked […]

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  • couple on a bench

    16 Things Every Woman Should Know How to Say to a Man

    Monday, October 21, 2013

    The worst thing a woman can be in a relationship? Silent. But the art of expressing ourselves in living words, not typed ones, proves increasingly challenging. Here are 16 things I, like many of you, wish I learned to say to a man right as I came of age instead of a decade too late. […]

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  • Texting

    Are You Wearing Text Goggles?

    Wednesday, October 16, 2013

    As a millennial, I understand the appeal of the text message. It’s easy, convenient, non-threatening, and can be ignored. I have texted guys to suggest a hang out when I hadn’t heard from them in a while; I have received tweets, texts, and emails from men for last-minute ‘dates’ that never seemed to work out […]

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  • Bride and bridesmaid

    When God gives her a husband and you’re still single

    Wednesday, October 9, 2013

    Her email landed in my inbox just after 2am. “How could God give her a husband and not me?  I’ve gone home alone a million times when she went home with a guy. I’ve waited and saved myself for my husband and she hasn’t. She’s cleaned up her act recently but she’s only spent 6 […]

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  • sexy selfie

    A Letter to Sexy-Instagram Posters

    Wednesday, September 11, 2013

      (This letter is in response to this controversial letter to a teenage girl from a mom who blocks sexy-posters her from her sons’ social media feeds. Dear Sexy-Instagram Poster, I see you. That feels like a good place to start. I see how you long to be beautiful, to be told you are beautiful. […]

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  • © 1978 ABC

    Men: This is How You Ask Her Out

    Tuesday, September 3, 2013

    Real Men Don’t Text is officially available today everywhere books are sold! Michael wrote this post for the men out there who want to date differently, but don’t know where to start.  Spoiler alert: it will start with a plan and a phone call. When I was in high school and college, the easiest (read: […]

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Aslan
Mar
20

Is God like the Men who Have Hurt Me?

  “How have the men in your life treated you? What did they expect of you? If you were beaten, raped, or abused then you probably loath God. If you were manipulated or cheated on by men, then you probably think God has the same agenda, that he’s only interested in what He can get […]

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Father Holding Daughter's Hand
Mar
18

Daddy Issues

  “She must have daddy issues,” she said after learning Joanna had a new boyfriend. We continued walking-talking about our latest ‘author crushes’, jobs, and newfound ways to add spinach into our diets. But my mind stayed on Joanna and her ‘daddy issues’. Unfortunately, her new guy was just as terrible as the five before. I […]

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Unknown
Mar
15

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! Some exciting things are happening here in Nashville. I must say how appreciative I am of each of you. Just the fact that you care what I have to say means, well, the world. I write mosts of my posts in my pajamas in a 750sq feet house and there is nothing glamorous […]

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Modest is Hottest
Mar
14

‘Modest is Hottest’ & Other Christian Phrases Needing #Elimination

Thank you to everyone who complimented and shared our cover. If you missed the cover for Real Men Don’t Text on Tuesday, check it out! Will you help us spread the word, too? Ok. This post is a tad cynical, but I must say us Christians have a way of using phrases that a.) no […]

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Real Men Don't Text Cover
Mar
11

Real Men Don’t Text Book Cover

Check out our cover! Real Men Don’t Text will be at a bookstore near you in September. Michael & I can’t wait to share it with all of you. Just a few more weeks until we’re done with edits. I want to squeal in anticipation of not seeing 5am, or sitting in front of a […]

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counseling
Mar
6

Is God Enough?

Have you ever felt like God just wasn’t enough? That His presence couldn’t solve your problems, nor assuage your deepest fears? I received an email from a reader and, with her permission, here is a portion of her question: “You mentioned in a few of your posts that you have seen a counselor.  Given your […]

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bride and groom
Mar
4

Fool-Proof Your Marriage | What are Your Rules?

I listen to The Bert Show most days on the way to work and last week Bert profiled Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton’s rules for “fool-proofing’ their marriage. Lambert and Shelton have three rules: 1.) See each other every two weeks (because they are both on the road). 2.) Miranda can check Shelton’s texts (oh […]

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couple in a boat
Feb
28

9 Steps to a Happier Relationship

“Marriage is just THE BEST. Why didn’t I do this sooner?” “Nothing about our relationship is easy. It’s become like pulling teeth to get him to engage with me.” I talked to two friends over the weekend and took note of their very different feelings about marriage. I’m always wary to write about marriage, because […]

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Screen-Shot-2012-12-02-at-17.23.24
Feb
25

What if Money was No Object?

What would you do if money was no object? “If you say getting the money is the most important thing you’ll spend your life completely wasting your time. You’ll be doing things you don’t like doing in order to go on living that is to go on doing things you don’t like doing. Which is stupid!” This video came up on […]

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Dark Street
Feb
20

“I’m With You”

I called her at 3am. “Hello?” she said sleepily, “Is everything ok?” “Not exactly…could you come get me? I’m outside of towers, in the parking lot.” It wasn’t ten minutes, before Betsy arrived in her pajamas and glasses. She picked me up and took me back to her house, the whole way not asking me […]

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