-
This Ain’t About Throwbacks
Women at home rocking tea-length dresses, frilly aprons, and adorable high heels, vacuuming with an Electrolux vacuum, while their 2.5 children play quietly nearby . . . Is this the picture of perfect womanhood? If you listen to the cultu...
-
Why I’m Not a Feminist
Drop this word into a room full of women and you're sure to ignite a firestorm . . . Feminism. On the surface level, feminism looks benign. If feminism is simply the advocacy for women's rights based on the idea that we are equal to men, I'...
-
Why I’m Sick of Women’s Conferences
I've been to eight women's conferences in the last three months. I've got the t-shirts to prove it. As a Bible teacher, I have the privilege of attending lots of these events to speak. I meet beautiful women with hearts full to the brim with a desir...
-
When We (kind of) Believe in Karma
We don’t want to cut back on ministry outreaches in the year ahead, so we’re asking the Lord to provide at least $435,000 by the end of this month. Will you help? Two of my three sons have bad kidneys. That means that since my first ult...
-
A Beautiful Encounter with Our Savior (And a Giveaway!)
It was a very dark day for one momma. Her only son was dead. She had already buried his daddy. Her heart was broken. Her family was gone. She was destitute. Luke tells the story this way, Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain,...
-
Who am I? The Good, the Bad, and the Gospel
Come worship Christ and learn how to live in His fullness with thousands of your sisters at True Woman '14 in Indianapolis on October 9–11. Only 23 days left for early registration. Yesterday, I wrote about the character of God in His own w...
-
Who Are You, God?
Come worship Christ and learn how to live in His fullness with thousands of your sisters at True Woman '14 in Indianapolis on October 9–11. Only 24 days left for early registration. Take off your sandals (or boots as may be the case this co...
-
Who Are You, God?
Come worship Christ and learn how to live in His fullness with thousands of your sisters at True Woman '14 in Indianapolis on October 9–11. Only 24 days left for early registration. Take off your sandals (or boots as may be the case this co...
-
Dear Room Moms Everywhere
Last month, I stumbled upon a raw nerve. My post, "Why I'm Not the Room Mom" ignited a response I did not anticipate. Some of you responded that you were encouraged by the post to draw healthy boundaries with your time and family. Hooray! That was my ...
-
Craving God’s Best
Valentine's Day has come and gone. Our blood sugar has spiked from all of that chocolate and some of us never received what we were actually craving—someone else's love. I'd like to propose a radical change. Instead of labeling February ...
-
Why I’m Not the Room Mom
I send store-bought valentines to my son's school. There. I said it. I don't stencil names onto fancy pieces of cardboard. I don't hot glue the perfect candy heart message onto cardstock. I don't bake heart-shaped cookies from scratch. I...
-
It’s Not About Me
I've got a secret that can keep rivers of tears from being shed in 2014. It can stop angry outbursts in their tracks. It can put an end to stewing, sniveling, and navel-gazing. It is a secret that can insulate you from so much in the year ahead. A...
-
Five More Truths To Set You Free in 2014
Yesterday, I challenged you to resolve to put God's Truth into action in 2014. I gave you five action steps based on the Truths Nancy writes about in Lies Women Believe. Here are five more ways you can live out God's Truth in 2014. I will wave th...
-
Five Truths to Set You Free in 2014
What is it about a new year that makes us all want to call for a massive "do over"? We collectively vow to shed a few pounds, save a few pennies, and ditch the nasty habits that plagued us the year before. Resolve to put God's Truth into action. B...
-
Praying the Scriptures for Your Children
When I was only twelve weeks along with my first-born son, the doctor called us with some devastating news. The baby’s tiny bladder was blocked, meaning he couldn’t process amniotic fluid and wasn’t expected to survive the pregnancy...
-
Best of 2013: Praying for More Than ‘Safe’
We're celebrating God's faithfulness here on the True Woman blog with some of our favorite posts from 2013. We trust these posts will help you start your year off with a God-centered focus. I pen these words a few days after a bomber took out an eight...
-
Immanuel Changes Everything
The book of 1 Samuel records a great battle between the people of God, the Israelites, and one of their fiercest enemies, the Philistines. Israel lost 4,000 men on the battlefield in a single day. In the face of such crushing defeat, the elders of Is...
-
Inhospitable Hospitality
'Tis the season to be hospitable. One thing I love about the Christmas season is we tend to look over the fences that so often separate us from those near by and say, "Come on in." We host Christmas parties and dinners. We blow up the airbeds and s...
-
When Gratitude Isn’t So Warm and Fuzzy
These days my thoughts have drifted to the Pilgrims. We tend to romanticize that first Thanksgiving. We imagine happy Pilgrims sitting over steaming plates of food and kindly asking their Indian guests to "please pass the potatoes." It's all so qu...
-
A “Good Girl” Wrestles with the Gospel
I've always been a "good girl." Straight A student. Rarely in trouble. Picked the right college, the right fella, the right outfit. You get the idea. Turning my life over to Jesus ripped my story into two halves: life before Him and life after ...
-
When God Rewrites Your Job Description
As a woman, what’s your job in your home? Give me your answer in 3, 2, 1 . . . I know it probably didn’t take you three seconds to answer that simple question. In fact, I bet in those three seconds you came up with a list something lik...
-
Is Your Girl Drowning in Busyness?
I'm on a quest to inspire young women to live lives of radical faith. I want their faith in Jesus to make a difference in the way they live. I want it to change how they see the world. I want them to be willing to take risks for the Kingdom. But I've...
-
Why Our Kids Don’t Need the “Little g” Gospel
I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). There are all kinds of little "g" gospels. These are messages we preach to ourselves citing the (false) reasons God will surely love and accept us. There's t...
-
Getting Serious About Gratitude
Yesterday, I wrote about God's warning against spiritual envy from Jude 12–13. While that passage hit me hard, it felt like a walk in the park compared to what I read next. Jude 14–15 reads, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of...
-
Putting an End to Spiritual Envy
You know these are good things—kingdom building things—and yet, somewhere deep down you feel something other than excitement, joy, and the need to celebrate. You feel something a lot like envy: A friend of yours is asked to be the speak...
-
The Time for Action Has Come
Yesterday I wrote about the influx of readers at LiesYoungWomenBelieve.com who are struggling with porn. I urged you to get involved by talking about this difficult issue with the young women in your life. But I know those won't be easy conversation...
-
That Girl’s Secret Porn Addiction
Catch Josh McDowell and Nancy today and tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts as they discuss how (and when) to talk to your children about sex as well as how to help them deal with temptation. Did you know Truewoman.com has a little sister blog at LiesYoung...
-
A Fleshy Assessment: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself
After reading Erin's post, catch Yvonne Welch's story, "Healing From Bitterness," today through Wednesday on Revive Our Hearts. As I write these words, I am nine months pregnant. Those of you who have been there know that is a very "fleshy" season o...
-
Lessons from “The Devastation”
Fact: You are either heading out of the wilderness, or you are heading into it. My pastor, Tim Cook, recently preached a killer sermon about Jesus’ time in the wilderness. I was struck by his description of the wilderness where Jesus was led...
-
A Call to Live Like People Matter
As I read the Gospels, one fact is undeniable to me—Jesus valued people. Over and over He allowed Himself to be stopped, inconvenienced, and used by the people around Him. There was the time He retreated to a mountain hideout for some much n...
-
Loose Lips Sink Families
“Loose lips sink ships.” They also have a way of sinking entire families. Don’t believe me? Just ask Zeresh or Potiphar’s wife or the many wives of Solomon. These were wives who did not hold their tongues. They are wives wh...
-
The Ministry of Pancakes
I had a toddler at home and a baby in my belly. Most days I was crippled by pregnancy symptoms that made it difficult to put one foot in front of the other. Can you think of a time when your circumstances were tough? Freeze-frame that memory in you...
-
Have Mercy!
Catch “Encouraging Your Husband to Lead” today on Revive Our Hearts for a very practical discussion about the ways wives can encourage strength and leadership in their husbands. Inspired by a great series written by True Woman’s ...
-
Is It Time to Re-Think Your Family’s Sports Schedule?
From baseball season to fantasy football leagues, sports are tightly woven into the fabric of our culture. Since this is a blog for women, I may not be writing to many die-hard sports fans or professional players, but that doesn’t necessarily ...
-
To Moms Everywhere . . .
There’s not a potted plant pretty enough to say all that needs to be said to you. There’s not a Hallmark card sweet enough to sum up our gratitude. Mommas, you are the warriors of our world. You are equal parts soft and strong. You are...
-
Praying for More Than ‘Safe’
I pen these words a few days after a bomber took out an eight-year-old as he waited for his dad to cross the finish line of the Boston marathon. There’s not a single day I drop my son off at preschool that I don’t think about Sandy Hook ...
-
A Timely Reminder for Tax Day
Moms, join Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Hannah Keeley for tonight’s online Mom Mastery Summit. Catch this great interview on Lies Women Believe at 7 p.m. on MomMasterySummit.com. Uncle Sam is very, very mad at me. At least that’s my ass...
-
The “Same-Sex Marriage” Debate: An Action Plan
Yesterday, I began a dialogue about so-called "same-sex marriage" by examining the facts of two cases currently being debated in the Supreme Court. You likely didn’t need to be reminded this is an important issue, but let’s take a hard loo...
-
Understanding the “Same-Sex Marriage” Debate
I’m a news junkie. Ever since my first “real” job as a newspaper reporter, I’ve had an insatiable craving for the news. I can’t get enough of it. I want my finger firmly planted on the pulse of what’s happening . . ...
-
Managing Your Manna
Oh, the Exodus. What a strange and troublesome blot on the story of God’s people . . .Every time I read about how God delivered His people from slavery with dramatic interventions like plagues and the parting of the Red Sea I am amazed. But with...
-
Got the Grumpies?
Have you ever noticed that grumpiness cuts deep ruts? A grumpy day or two and before you know it, your go-to mood—and the routine mood of your family—is grumpy. A while ago I noticed that I had a few Grumpy Gus’ living in my hous...
-
Self-Control and Pickle Cravings
I’m so tired I feel like I’m moving with concrete feet. The first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning is when I can take a nap. My pillow calls my name all day long. My husband and kids are getting on my nerves. Sometimes I want to yell at them. Sometimes I do yell at them. The next moment I’m in tears. I crave dill pickles. Oh, and dill pickle juice. I drink the stuff straight out of the jar. Yep, I’m pregnant. Which means I’m strapped in for one of the wildest emotional roller coaster rides a girl can take. I cry a lot.…
-
An Open Letter To Lance Armstrong
If you haven’t already heard, bicycling superstar Lance Armstrong made shockwaves last month by admitting to “doping” during his long and celebrated athletic career. He’s back in the news this week with the possibility of...
-
Too Embarrassed to Ask for Prayer?
Here’s another of our favorite posts from the last five years—originally featured on March 3, 2011—on removing masks and the power of prayer. Let us know how we can pray for you below, and we’ll choose one of you...
-
Beware the Husband Basher
"Beware the Husband Basher" was originally posted on July 28, 2010. It made our "Best of the last five years cut" because there's no arguing with 1,100 Facebook likes and 193 shares! This post is applicable to women of all ages and stages of life—it's really about the power of our words. Speaking of our words, we'd like to give one of you Conversation Peace by Mary Kassian. Leave a comment below telling us how you would have—or have—handled a husband or friend basher. Do so by Monday, January 7, and we'll choose a winner at random. Oh, and if you are married and are looking for a way to build up…