• 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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Jun
28

Life as a MRS: Learning about Grace and the Laundromat

“…for some reason your clothes have holes in them…” Michael informed me after spending the morning at our neighborhood laundromat. I’ve washed clothes my entire life and never encountered this problem, so as to be expected, I had some questions. . My questions led to an interesting discovery: my husband always washes everything he owns in […]

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Jun
24

June 24 – Remembering God’s Promise

“I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you without an outstretched arm…” Exodus On June 24, 2004, I left a treatment facility in the middle of desert with a promise. God promised He would redeem the mess I made of […]

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Jun
21

Life as a MRS: Fire Alarms, Fans, and Why I Need a Toaster

As I mentioned in my last post, I have finally achieved my MRS degree and am learning many new ‘trades’, namely cooking. I have a plethora of cute aprons (thanks to Katie, Chelsey, and Jordan), but unfortunately no one has clicked “buy” on the toaster icon on our Dillard’s registry. No big deal right? Who […]

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Jun
16

Life as a MRS : Day 1 Cooking Disaster

I married the man of my dreams just 12 days ago. We had the perfect  wedding –  a packed dance floor, big bouquets of peonies garnishing every table, games in the front yard during cocktail hour, and a beautiful ceremony that took my breath away. …More about the wedding later. After four grueling years at Vanderbilt […]

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Jun
16

Love Sex & Dating | Am I crazy for waiting until marriage?

Writing about this topic may in fact be presumptuous – but just want to give a shout out to Andy for delivering another unpopular “wait ‘til your married and don’t look at porn” sermon. The Bible tells us to wait until marriage to have sex. Is this… Outdated? Crazy? Unrealistic? …Shouldn’t we try on the […]

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Three Grandchildren:)
Jun
1

Fishing and becoming a “grandma”

I love Chinese people {but you probably already knew that}. I love seeing their faces light up when I speak Chinese, them giggle with their hands delicately over their mouths, and how much they love my cakes! In the Bible, Jesus tells us if we follow Him, we will  become “fishers of men”. It’s a […]

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Mar
22

Questioning God’s Blessings

I have an interview tomorrow for my D-R-E-A-M  job. Thomas Nelson-the largest Christian publishing company in the world and the 7th largest trade publishing company-will interview me for a position in the fiction department in 31 hours. Am I nervous? Anxious? Both to the nth degree. In effort to fully equip myself for the interview, I […]

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