I love Christmastime. I love the way everything, from trees to parking lots, gets dressed up in shimmery lights, bows, and evergreens. I love the kindness of strangers that seems to snowball this time of the year. I love the holiness of Christmas carols heard from church choirs, church pews, and grocery store loudspeakers. Then…
Warrior Princesses
“Me, a princess?” “You are the legal heir.” “I never lead anyone.” “We will help you to be a princess, to rule. If you refuse to accept the throne then the kingdom will cease to exist as we know it.” — The Princess Diaries In God’s name, we must fight them! — Joan of Arc Women are…
Pray When You Are Hemmed In
Why did God curse Eve with loneliness and heartache, an emptiness that nothing would be able to fill? Wasn’t her life going to be hard enough out there in the world, banished from the Garden that was her true home, her only home, never able to return? It seems unkind. Cruel, even. He did it…
Captivating The Real You
Watch the Video for Lesson One The Heart of a Woman What does it mean to be a woman? What is my calling in life? What does God value? What does He want from me? What do I want? And is that okay? We are not carbon copies of each other. Not at all.…
Captivating: All Women Are Called to Mother
To Mother As large as the role is that our mothers play, the word mother is more powerful when used as a verb than as a noun. All women are not mothers, but all women are called to mother. To mother is to nurture, to train, to educate, to rear. As daughters of Eve, all women…
Captivating: Healing the Wound of Our Feminine Hearts
I didn’t know just what was wrong with me, Till your love helped me name it. – Aretha Franklin Down those old ancient streets, Down those old ancient roads, Baby there together we must go Till we get the healing done. – Van Morrison Just an hour ago, a hummingbird was trapped in our garage. They come here to…
An Abrupt Turn
“St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” a powerful prayer attributed to Saint Patrick of Ireland, begins in this way: I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.1 “I arise today through a mighty strength.” Oh, wouldn’t that be nice…
Unwavering: A Reason to Celebrate
INTRODUCTION Group leader reads aloud these opening words from Stasi: I love to celebrate. I love birthday parties and baby showers, holidays and homecomings. But I especially love Christmas. Except when I don’t. At the beginning of too many holiday seasons, I can become overwhelmed by what is “required” of me. That is, I did,…
Cultivating Joy
When I was young, I thought that following God and being a Christian would lead to a life that was kind of easy, filled only with happiness and free from pain and sorrow. Silly me. I’m not even sure where I got that idea, except maybe from teachings spouted by TV evangelists who espoused a…
Defiant Joy: Greener Grass
He makes me lie down in green pastures. — Psalm 23:2 The tree was moving. There was no wind, but the leaves were fluttering with life. It was as if it had been quickened by an invisible command that no one could hear. No one, that is, but those who could fly. I approached the…
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