Exploring the Wild & Beautiful Places of Faith
I'm guest posting this week over at Verily Magazine. Is it time for you to walk away from your relationship? Here are three tell-tale signs:
Now that the aura of Valentine’s Day is behind us, it’s time we remove our rose-colored glasses and stare our relationships squarely in the face. You may find that your relationship is as wonderful as you thought, or you may discover that its time to walk away.
n my last post, I asked the question, “What is sex?”
My thoughts on the standard positions, in short, “You have been weighed. You have been measured. And you have been found wanting.”
It’s time for a new position on Sex, one that appreciates the whole of the person and elevates sex without idolizing it.
Not the literal definition, I know that, thank you very much. And I hope if you’re reading this, you do too.
In the more philosophical sense, what is sex? What is its purpose? And the all-consuming question: is it a need or a desire? Over the next few posts, I’d like to attempt to tackle those questions. Or, at least begin a dialogue. Something so fundamental to who we are as humans, and our existence, cannot be easily summarized in a few hundred words.
Is it sacred? Is it free? Is it dirty? Is it casual or is it serious business?
Today I get to highlight an e-book recently published by a fellow writer and speaker, Sheila Gregoire, “31 Days to Great Sex." I also get to give away not one, but two free copies. I find it fitting that the first giveaway on this blog is a book about sex. More importantly, how to have GREAT sex.
I have a thing about marriage. And sex. I think both are amazing. And I think they each make the other better. Try to have only one without the other and it’s like trying to have cake without frosting. Or frosting with no cake. That might sound good for a little while, but you’re missing out on cake at it’s best.
Jennifer Marion, a fellow blogger, nominated me this last week for a Beautiful Blogger Award. Please go check out her blog, How’s Your Love Life, where you’ll find her sharing from her heart and own experiences on marriage, relationships, and family from a faith-based perspective that will give you a thing or two to ponder as you go about your day.
I get to share a few new bits of information about myself. So here we go. Feel free to skip to Part Two below for the good stuff:
She’s a 15-year-old girl in Pakistan who recently made a name for herself by speaking out in defense of education for girls. Since the age of 11, she’s been writing and reporting on the BBC’s Urdu Service.
The Taliban have not taken kindly to her rising prominence, or her outspoken defiance of their teachings. So on October 9th, they shot young Malala in the head while she waited for her school bus. Miraculously the bullet did not penetrate her skull, traveling instead under the skin along the side of her head. She is now in England recovering and is making an amazing comeback.
“911, what is your emergency?”
“There’s an intruder in my house.”
“Are you in danger, ma’am?”
“In danger of being taken over!! A crazy person has invaded my home. She’s moody, sullen, weepy, insecure and in general, a wreck. She’s oddly familiar but I don’t know who she is.”
I felt like making that call this week. I have long prided myself on being a strong, confident, independent, slightly sassy and a fairly put together woman. Sure there were kinks in the armor but nothing that I couldn’t keep behind closed doors.
This week I'm guest posting over at Verily Magazine. Here's a teaser:
When I was single, I pored over books and blogs, and spent countless hours dissecting relationships in conversation with friends in search of that one great love.
Having observed plenty of relationships, I knew that when I finally found my soul-thrilling, epic love, there would be imperfections in this man that I would have to learn to patiently accept. What I didn’t expect ...
In case you missed it, this week I guest posted over at Verily Magazine, a fabulous new venture that is written by young women, for young women.
Here's a teaser of what I said on the Battle of the Sexes:
As the song from Annie Get Your Gun says, “Anything you can do, I can do better.”
Personally, I’ve found that a little competition can be healthy; it drives me to push further, try harder and endure longer. But if I take my competitive spirit to an extreme, especially in a relationship, it can be grating, hurtful and exhausting; if I’m not careful, I can cause distance between those closest to me. Although I want to be a strong, successful woman, I’ve learned that I need to reevaluate what that really means for me.
This last week The Huffington Post ran a brief article on an upcoming book by social scientist Catherine Hakim. In it she suggests that having extramarital affairs might actually make for a better relationship. I have not yet read the book, but I did read the excerpt printed in The Telegraph. While we may view this position as extreme, I would argue that the assumptions upon which it is based (at least from what I read in the excerpt) are what I see subtly permeating our culture, our conversations and the attitudes of many my age (20–30 year olds).