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How to (Not) Raise “Worthless Daughters”

Today I’m honored to have Judy Douglass guest posting. I hope you will find her words as motivating as I do. “Thank you, Mother, for raising a worthless daughter.” These words, part of a lament of a bride going to meet her husband for the first time, summed up the experience of women in China […]

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7 Ways YOU Can Fight Human Trafficking, Plus A FREE DOWNLOAD!

We hear about human trafficking happening overseas, in places like Thailand and Cambodia. But did you know that it happens here, in our own backyard? Law enforcement agencies estimate that 45,000-50,000 people are trafficked into the United States every year. 15,000 of them are children, and most of them wind up working in the sex […]

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Rape Drugs, Roadside Stands, and Human Trafficking: There Are No Innocent Bystanders

I’m thrilled to have the insightful Tim Fall guest posting today. “Enjoy” seems like the wrong word to introduce this post with, so…read thoughtfully? Tomorrow, I will be posting about some new resources available from the Evangelical Covenant Church to prevent, recognize, and combat human trafficking. Un-Innocent Bystanders Earlier this month my son and I […]

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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 […]

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Holy Harmony, Batgirl! #Mutuality 2012

I never did get around to posting my Friday Favorites for this week, but each and every one of them (and then some!) are on this list! Rachel Held Evans has been hosting the Mutuality 2012 synchroblog, and the articles have been AMAZING, to say the least. She’s included links to all 188 of them […]

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Making Space for the Feminine Voice

  Women are natural communicators. No one doubts this, really, and a quick, unscientific glance at the blogosphere confirms the female desire to enter into the conversation about important issues impacting our world. But why are so many of these bubbling female voices still running underground, or being siphoned off into their own little “women’s […]

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Friday Favorites: Hip-Hop, Hamartia, and Heroic Grandmas

My friend and fellow Redbud Connie Jakab is a dynamo, approximately five feet of raw, passionate energy that she channels toward combating poverty, creating “culture rebels,” and choreographing some great hip-hop shows. If you follow me on Facebook you’ve probably read (and liked!) her stuff. But just in case you’ve missed out on the awesomeness […]

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The Princess (Syndrome) Must Die: On Poisoning Schoolgirls’ Bodies and Minds

This article makes me so mad I could spit. For the third time in two weeks, the Taliban has been accused of poisoning little girls, spraying down their schoolrooms with toxic chemicals to discourage the education of women. This time, 160 girls were admitted to the hospital after experiencing headaches, dizziness and vomiting. As horrible […]

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Hustler’s Explicit Image of S.E. Cupp is Virtual Rape

It takes a lot to piss me off. But Larry Flynt has managed. Pundit-phobe that I am, I had never heard of S.E. Cupp until I was confronted with a picture of the pretty young conservative commentator with a penis in her mouth. Apparently Hustler magazine created the cleverly photoshopped image and published it with […]

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“You Are More Than…” Best Mother’s Day Sermon EVER!

Edited to add: Due to popular demand, I’ve put together a short read about Mother’s Day for women who need a little solace, and pastors who need a little help. Check it out here, or by clicking on the cover to the right. Mother’s Day sermons are notoriously awful. Sentimental tripe that leaves some women […]

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The Proverbs 31 Woman, Theology, and Me, Part 3

In Part 1, I talked about my early understandings (and misunderstandings) of the Proverbs 31 Woman. In Part 2, I shared some of the things I have learned about the theology underlying Proverbs 31. And in Part 3, I’m going to make my point (I promise). First of all, to wrap up my previous posts, I think […]

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The Proverbs 31 Woman, Theology, and Me, Part 2

In Part 1 of this post, I talked about my early thoughts about the Proverbs 31 Woman: from my childhood perception of her as a wise, kind instructor that I should emulate, to the law-ridden measuring stick of Christian womanhood that I could never live up to (and was regularly hit over the head with). […]

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The Proverbs 31 Woman, Theology, and Me, Part 1

It’s going to be a busy week around here, so I’ll be reposting a three-part series I wrote last summer, on my old blog. Enjoy! I’ve had an ambiguous relationship with the Proverbs 31 Woman over the years. When I was a baby, my Auntie Lynn gave me a plaque that hung in my room […]

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Oppressors, Activists, and Spiritual Stinginess: St. Paul’s Guide to Praying Better Prayers

“And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.” -Philemon 1:6 I was reading Philemon this weekend, and many things stood out to me. Paul’s tone with Philemon, acknowledging Philemon’s friendship, fidelity, and good […]

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Fearless Femininity: Missionaries, Mommies, and Old Ladies on Motorcycles

It’s funny how these things come full circle in our lives. While working on the message about the need for women to find their identity in Christ, instead of in their relationships with others, I’ve been thinking a lot about the women I know who have embodied this, particularly the single missionary women I knew […]

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