Today, I picked up a guitar, and let my husband teach me four chords. It was a momentous occassion. You’ve got to understand. I have a HISTORY with guitars. Both of my parents play guitar. In the seventies, they had a folk rock band, and I would fall asleep (or not) to the sound of […]
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“Faithful”: My One Word for 2013
I’ve never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. So I was thrilled to learn about the One Word movement last year. The idea? “Choose one word that sums up who you want to be or how you want to live. One word that you can focus on every day, all year long.” My […]
Good Christian Fears: Is Fear Crippling Your Walk With Christ?
I’ve never considered myself a fearful person. But recently, I’ve been discovering just how much my deeply-buried fears and anxieties have influenced and continued to influence my life. These aren’t conscious thoughts, or even things that I initially recognized as fear. But as I reflected on the decisions I’ve made and the things I’ve written […]
Sexist Gender Roles or (Un)Common Courtesy? Why I Teach My Boys To Hold the Doors Open
Call me old-fashioned. But few things annoy me more than seeing an elderly couple or uncomfortable-looking pregnant woman standing in a crowded lobby while fresh-faced twenty-somethings slouch on the benches, fiddling with their iPhones. *visualize indignant mom-glare* Now, I’m hardly a stickler for manners. I don’t care if my kids put their elbows on the […]
Picture Day Trauma
It’s picture day at my kids’ school. And picture day makes me cranky. Maybe it started when I was a kid, when our whole class was warned against playing too hard during recess for fear of getting dirty and sweaty. Maybe it’s the memory of strangers trying to comb the tangles out of my waist-length […]
A Self-Indulgent Post About Blogging and Being Misunderstood
The blogosphere can be a bizarre place, a bubbling cauldron of controversy, rhetoric, and vitriol. Sometimes, I’m not too fond of it. I haven’t been blogging a lot lately. Yes, I’m still tired from a whirlwind summer. Yes, I needed to get the kids into their school routines. But mostly, I’ve needed to think. I’ve […]
Running With Castles and Bishops: Would You Sacrifice Your Standards for Worldly Gain?
Today’s guest post is from Tim Fall. Enjoy! Like a good chess player he [Satan] is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your castle only by losing your bishop. (C.S. Lewis) I’ve been watching the Olympics and that means watching track and field. Olympic runners need no explanation of […]
Friday Favorites: Chik-fil-A Edition
All week I’ve been thanking my lucky stars (and, erm, God) that I don’t live within 150 miles of the now-infamous poultry sandwich establishment, and that most of my far-North friends have no innate loyalty to the Southern chicken chain. For me, the ugly, aggravating, and to my mind incredibly stupid debate has played out […]
Chicken Sandwiches, Christian Conquistadors, and Other Internet E.coli
After the flooding that hit my hometown, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued warnings to avoid several beaches. The sewer systems had been compromised, and high levels of E.coli bacteria were found in the water. In other words: Stay out of the water, or you’ll find yourself swimming in–well–you get the idea. That’s kind of […]
When Children Are Treated Like Obstacles to “Real” Ministry
Well, my family survived Disneyland! I’m still vacationing in California, and still featuring some great guest posts. Today’s post is by my friend and fellow Redbud Michelle Van Loon, originally published on her blog in 2009. What does it say about our ministries when children are treated as an obstacle to be “dealt with,” when […]
What’s a Nice Evangelical Girl Like You Doing With a Rosary Like That?
I have a confession to make. I’ve always been jealous of my Roman Catholic friend’s rosaries. Actually, it didn’t start with rosaries–it started with a Muslim friend’s prayer staff. He had come to our apartment in Liberia for dinner, and unrolled his prayer mat on our porch during the call to prayer. Afterward, he saw […]
Why Christians Need to Break the Rules
I have a thing about “rules.” Like most individualistic Americans, I’m not a huge fan of them. But like most Good Christian Women, I’m really good at following them. Like that time they were doing road construction in West Duluth. My husband and I lived, worked, and worshipped in that neighborhood for several years. It’s […]
Friday Favorites: Songwriter’s Secret
I haven’t had time to peruse a lot of blog posts this week. And most of the posts I did read were from bloggers I discovered through Rachel Held Evans’s #Mutuality 2012, which I featured in last week’s Friday Favorites. Part of the reason I’ve had so little time for blog-reading is that my husband […]
How Much Money Does it Take to Be A Good Christian Woman?
When I was in my twenties, I attended a “Bible” study on how to be a Good Christian Woman. Good Christian Women, I was told, stayed home with their children. Mothers who worked outside the home were compromising, trading their morals for material gain. Good Christian Women decorated their homes with artistic flair, making a […]
Walk With Me: Lessons Learned While Stranded in O’Hare Airport
Right now I’m sitting on a bed at the La Quinta O’Hare, foot propped up on a puffy white pillow, a small trash bag filled with ice from the vending area draped over my swollen, sprained ankle. It all started last night as I was (attempting to) catch my 10 p.m. flight home from a […]
Author, speaker, and mommy of four, living on coffee and lots of grace. Pastor at Darrow Road Wesleyan Church. Student at North Park Theological Seminary. Passionate about justice, mercy, and the "one anothers."
Check Out Jenny’s New Book!
- 50 Shades of Broken: Why Do Women Fantasize About Abuse?
- John Piper, Women in Combat, and How Gender Roles Fall Short of the Glory of Humankind
- How Much Money Does it Take to Be A Good Christian Woman?
- Faking It: Why You Should Stop Treating Your Husband Like a Toddler, and ACTUALLY Respect Him.
- Asking for a Friday FAVOR! What Do You Think Belongs In a Book About Mutual Marriages?
