• 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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is he the one?
Oct
1

When It Isn’t Clear He’s ‘the One’

“Dear Ruthie, I recently came across your post “How Do I Know if He’s The One?” and it really opened my eyes to my current relationship. When I see some of his personality I know that he probably isn’t the one that I should be with. But he is so selfless and is always putting […]

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Photo Credit: Creative Commons, tvol
Sep
30

Protect Your Marriage at Work

I recently heard on my favorite radio show that the #1 place affairs start is in the workplace. It’s not online, it’s not over text message, and it isn’t at a bar. I think it’s worth paying attention to because of the reality that you spend more waking hours with your colleagues than you do with […]

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Real Men Dont Text talk of the town nashville
Sep
25

Real Men Don’t Text on Channel 5

NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather Michael and I were on talk of the town today and I just had to share the video clip with you. I (unfortunately) prepared for this interview, in the way, I go about most of my life. I forgot about it until the day before, panicked when I realized I […]

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speak the truth, even if your voice shakes
Sep
22

Speak up, even if your voice shakes

I was finishing up my morning workout at the gym when he spotted me. It wasn’t normal, the way his eyes lingered and gazed up and down my body. I looked at the floor and focused on my workout. He approached me and I felt panicky and breathless, trying to brush away concern. There were […]

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sexy selfie
Sep
11

A Letter to Sexy-Instagram Posters

  (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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Door
Sep
8

You’re Not Important

  Michael and I bought our first house in our favorite part of town. This summer has been a flurry of unpacking boxes, scouring flea markets and dusty antique shops, refinishing old furniture, and sitting on our front porch dreaming—sometimes about our writing, but mostly about tiny footsteps in our house. The other day, my […]

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journal
Sep
5

Your Story Must Be Told

“I can’t share my story.” “No one cares what I have to say.” “I’m under qualified.” “I’m too busy.” “It’s too late for me.” Are these excuses keeping you from telling your story? You have a story to tell. We all do. Whether it’s through sentences on a page, a song, a painting, a speech […]

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© 1978 ABC
Sep
3

Men: This is How You Ask Her Out

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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you are accepted
Aug
26

You are Worth Loving

Your friends are probably like mine in that they combat rejection with sayings like “You deserve better”; “You’re too good for him!”; “He’s crazy not to like ­you”—​­right? But rejection often makes us feel the ­opposite—​­like we are unworthy of love and will never be good enough for a man. Because if you have never […]

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how you date and who you date matters. no exceptions
Aug
21

Your Love Isn’t Changing Him | Excerpt from Real Men Don’t Text

In high school, I went to a party, and the guys standing outside made us spin around to make sure we “qualified” to come in. Was being “hot” enough to get into a party what it felt like to be loved? Was the guy who showered me with attention all night and asked me to […]

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