I had the privilege of speaking last weekend at a unique, but much needed women’s event near my hometown. The topic was mental illness. Friday night, I began the weekend with a spiritual look at our grief and anxiety, along with the need to process both in ways that lead to health, not harm of ourselves or others around us. We looked at the lives of Job, Hagar, and Joseph for help, because, though our circumstances are different, our God is the same. On Saturday, a psychiatric nurse practitioner gave valuable practical insight into diagnoses and treatment. I really appreciate the vision of lea ..read more

The following is an anonymous essay from a friend who is walking with his adult daughter through the aftermath of a rape that resulted in a shocking pregnancy. My daughter was raped. She had agency over how she responded to the pregnancy that followed. She’s choosing life.  Not all Christians who believe abortion is a sin are triumphantly celebrating the impending Supreme Court ruling. Some are lying low, hopeful and humbly grateful, but unconvinced that the triumph of moralism in politics is the opportunity for righteousness that others predict. Some have themselves walked alone into the ..read more

I forgive you. These are words many long to hear. These are also words many of us wrestle to say. If you’ve been listening to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, you can imagine the aftermath of broken relationships left in Mars Hill’s wake. It wasn’t just Mark Driscoll who sinned against others. And many folks who harmed others had also been harmed themselves. But there were several examples of true repairing of the wrong that had been done. Many did find forgiveness AND reconciliation in the wake of all that was broken and lost. I explore this and more in I Forgive You: Finding Peace and Moving ..read more

Lina Abujamra released a book that speaks into alot of what is going on in at least my little corner of the evangelical world. With the rise of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast, there is good discussion processing church hurt. Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction is a gift to the Church is this moment. Lina spent time in a church with a pastor very similar to Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll. I’m so thankful that she has shared her journey with others who are trying to figure out their own way forward. Also, a former pastor gave me this idea for a women’s ..read more

“I like criticism, but it must be my way.” Mark Twain How do you respond to criticism? Would you rather defend than correct yourself? Do you police the tone of criticism as an excuse not to hear legitimate concerns? Henry David Thoreau said we don’t get a man’s most effective criticism until he has been provoked. Don’t be surprised when the hard words that follow are given with some bitterness.  In light of recent disturbing allegations of child pornography against Josh Duggar, and the protection his patriarchal circles afforded him over those affected by his sexual perversion, the critiq ..read more

International Women’s Day is Monday, March 8. Why have such a day? Despite all of the differences among women worldwide and the fact that men struggle internationally as well, there remain some sobering norms about women that are worth considering, norms that give insight for why women internationally might benefit from a day of attention. Did you know that around a third of women internationally have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner? While women’s acceptance internationally of being beaten by their partners has decreased over the last seven years, laws address ..read more

I’m welcoming Alex Keen to the blog today. I appreciated her careful handling of Philemon as guidance for relationships in the church with cultural power differentials. Several years ago, I was encouraged to consider writing a piece on navigating authority as a woman in a complementarian church. During this time, quite a shake-up was happening in both evangelicalism and the world at large. There was a heated kerfuffle in the reformed internet world over trinitarian doctrine as it related to the roles of men and women. There were abuse allegations mishandled in the world and in the church. In a ..read more

We all need a worldview affected by our understanding of Scripture more than it is affected by how we were raised or the culture in which we currently live. Our culture affects us in profound ways, and for many of us, learning to be Scripture-led, not culture-led, is like learning to write with your left hand after decades of writing with your right. It takes focused thought and intentional steps to break old habits of thinking and put on the new. We have to discipline our mind to take over our hand, because our hand instinctively goes toward what it has always known, what is comfortable, what ..read more

How can you put into words what you do not understand yourself? In Childbirth Redeemed, Anna Vroon asks this poignant question as she shares, years after the fact, the complicated emotions around her difficult pregnancies and child birth experiences. How do you reconcile a deep and fierce mother’s love with fear, anxiety, and disgust at your pregnant belly? How do you bond with your child when you are still experiencing deep trauma after an excruciatingly painful birth process?  How do you live in light of the truth of God’s love and His purposes for you and your children when your emotio ..read more

A friend asked me recently how I would define suffering. I panicked for a moment. I just published a book on suffering, but I didn’t seem to have a quick definition for it in my head. How had I allowed such an oversight?! But it didn’t take me long to find succinct words. Deep down, I know exactly what suffering is and what is its cause. All suffering, at its most basic level, is our groaning under the weight of the effects of the Fall. I have found it deeply helpful to ground my understanding of my own personal suffering in terms of the Fall. God did not intend husbands and wives for divorc ..read more