From the LYWB.com team: After more than five years as a blog dedicated to exposing lies and replacing them with God's truth in the lives of young women, we've decided to switch directions. From now on this blog will be dedicated entirely to the subject of goat herding. You can follow us at our new url www.liesgoatherdersbelieve.com.  Clearly, I've never been good at practical jokes ... as you can tell by my sad attempt above which is a) a day late for an April Fool's Day prank and b) not very believable. But I wanted to get you thinking about the subject of fools. April Fool's Day is a strange…

Raise your hand if you've been going to church since you were in the womb. Keep it up if you've celebrated at least fifteen Easters in church. I can't see those hands through the computer screen, but I am sure there are many of them raised. That's a good thing! It's great that so many of you are so familiar with the Easter story. But sometimes that means that when the day rolls around, we move into auto pilot—moving through the motions of pastel dresses, church services, and dinner with family without every pausing to consider why the empty tomb matters so much. I don't want you to miss it…

I've often said there are two kinds of girls in this world. There are the diamond-loving girls, who would rather have one itty-bitty, sparkling piece of glass on their finger than a thousand rings made of cubic zirconium. And then there are the girls who prefer funk to flash. They'd rather have chunky bracelets and necklaces made of plastic than drop the dough required to wear the real stuff. I myself hang out in the second group. I asked for a guitar for my sixteenth birthday. When my parents got me diamond earrings instead (my birthstone), I almost burst into tears. I never did become a rocker, but my love…

The culture says it's best to take partners for a "test drive" when it comes to sex before marriage. God's Word says to save sex until after you say, "I do." Who's right? Who's wrong? Who really understands how sex is supposed to work? One way to find out is to ask a bold question—who is having the best sex? The answer may surprise you. The culture may be screaming that practice makes perfect when it comes to great sex. But proponents of that thinking simply aren't doing their homework. In an article titled "Sex Without Marriage Often Ruins People's Health and Well-being," physician John R. Diggs Jr. outlined the…

In Luke 8:51–52 Jesus approaches a crowd mourning the death of a twelve-year-old girl. His words to them may seem strange considering that they had good reason to be upset. But He said, "Stop crying" (v. 52). In Luke 7:13 He says the exact same words to a momma whose only son had died. She sure had reason to cry. Her situation was exceptionally hopeless. And yet … "He said, ‘Don't cry.'" When we tell someone not to cry, it's usually because we are uncomfortable with their emotions or because we think they're overreacting. But when Jesus told people not to cry, it was because He had a plan to do…

Has anyone ever said something like this to you . . . "Birds of a feather flock together." "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?" Since we aren't birds and our friends are unlikely to go cliff jumping, the message of these phrases can get a little lost in translation. Perhaps a few words from a juvenile court judge can clear the matter up. Recently, an email from a former juvenile court judge found its way into my inbox. The focus of his email was prayer, but a few sentences he wrote at the beginning got me thinking about Y-O-U. As a juvenile court judge, I often told…

Are there things about your school that you'd like to see God change? Are there people on your campus who desperately need to know the powerful message of the gospel or the reach of God's love? Do you sometimes feel like the only one at your school who is willing to live like God's called you? If you answered "yes," let me follow up with one more question. (Zero guilt intended. Promise.) When was the last time you prayed for your school? With that question in mind, I'd like to invite you to check out this video, promoting the 2013 Collegiate Day of Prayer. Will you join those who have…

We talk a lot on this blog about waiting for God to bring the right kind of guy at the right time. It's an important message. Much heartache has been caused by rushing into love or forcing a relationship that is outside the parameters of God's best for you. When it comes to love, I want you to wait well. But I also want you to know that waiting well doesn't work like a magic formula. You can guard your purity. You can trust God with your love life. You can write lists and save pennies and work on being the right person for love, but none of that guarantees…

Candy hearts. Chocolate kisses. Red roses. Yep. Tomorrow must be Valentine's Day. It can be a great day for those who are in love. For those who are not, an entire holiday dedicated to romance can be a little (okay a lot!) discouraging. I know that many of the readers of this blog are single. You have written to tell us that you are committed to God's will when it comes to romance. To you I send out a colossal pat on the back. (I'd send you each a bag of chocolate if I could!) I know that waiting isn't easy, especially when the whole world seems to be celebrating…