Not Even a Ring Can Fully Satisfy

/ Christian Dating, Love, Relationship with Jesus / 6 Comments

I recently got engaged to a godly Christian man. Let me share with you our proposal story. Zack and I were back at his apartment after a night of two-stepping. That morning I had landed in Dallas after being away for a few weeks. When I got home from the airport Zack had given me roses and showed me a puzzle that he completed as a surprise.

Zack knows I love puzzles. In fact, growing up my Dad called me the Puzzle Queen. Months before Zack proposed, Zack had ordered this personalized puzzle online and completed the whole puzzle by himself (a big task for a non puzzle queen). After finishing it, he flipped it over and wrote a secret message that I wouldn’t see for months. (more…)

3 Reasons Women’s Ministries Need to be Authentic, Vulnerable & Bold

/ Blogging Resources, Resources / Comments Off

“Joy, you are so vulnerable and so brave. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I could never be as bold as you to freely talk about these issues.” – Women’s Minister

That was the response I got from a women’s minister as I talked about the growing epidemic of porn addiction for women. Throughout my talk I shared how in 5th grade a friend first introduced me to porn, opening doors of curiosity inside my 11 year old brain. Next, I shared my story of date rape, which led me to turn back to porn out of more curiosity about sex.

In my talk, I was authentic, vulnerable, and bold – characteristics missing from many women’s ministries. If we as women’s ministers are not authentic, vulnerable, and bold, then neither will our women be authentic, vulnerable, and bold. As a millennial, I look for those characteristics in a church and a women’s ministry. Are you afraid of being vulnerable, authentic, and bold with the women you are ministering to? (more…)

For the College Freshman Girl Who Was Raped

/ College, Healing, Rape, Sexual Abuse / Comments Off

I’ve been there. I was a college freshman who was lost searching for what would give me an identity. What would give me hope. What would make me feel loved. As a college student, one desires to fit in and find her place and to meet a guy.

At least, that is what I wanted. (more…)

8 Myths about Waiting Until Your Wedding Night

/ Believing Lies, Christian Dating, Freedom From Sexual Sin & Shame, Love, Purity, Singleness & Dating / 11 Comments

You may think I’m crazy. You might think that what I’m about to say is not relevant in today’s world. Hear me out. In high school, I was not planning on waiting until marriage, I just hoped I found a guy I loved. This all changed when I fell in love with God. Now, I want to honor God and give Him all the glory in my current relationship, so I plan on waiting to have sex until my wedding night.

The Bible calls us to be pure and avoid sexual immorality. This is 100% different from the world, but remember that Jesus warns us that we will look different.

I’ve heard a few myths from readers and friends on why they don’t think a couple should wait until their wedding night to have sex. Let me share these myths with you and explain why I think they are myths. (more…)

When You Can’t Imagine a Life Without Pain

/ Devotional, Grace, Healing, How to Know God Personally, Jesus in the Media, Prayer, Relationship with Jesus / 2 Comments

We can’t imagine a life without sin, pain, shame, death, loss, grief, tears, etc. The list can go on and on. Our only experience with life is living in a sin cursed world. We’ve never known a life without these things, yet God promises that one day we can experience a new life if we trust in Jesus.

As the news unfolds of tragedy after tragedy, how do we believers hold on to this promise? (more…)

8 Truths to Know When You’re Tempted to Sin

/ Bible Study, Devotional, Freedom From Sexual Sin & Shame, Healing, Pornography, Purity, Relationship with Jesus, Sexual Addiction / Comments Off

The moment of temptation right before you sin happens in a matter of seconds. The enemy wants you to sin. He wants victory over your life. The good news is that God has promised us that no temptation is too big or too strong for us to conquer. In this post, I hope to provide practical tips and encouragement through Scripture to help you become more like Jesus, fight temptation, and experience freedom. (more…)

Why Jesus Is More Satisfying than Dating

/ Christian Dating, How to Know God Personally, Love, Relationship with Jesus, Singleness & Dating / Comments Off

As a 15 year old girl, I thought I loved him. He was the first boy I held hands with, my first kiss and my first boyfriend. As a high school girl, I dreamed of being together forever. Every night we would talk on the phone for hours, giggling about our days and never running out of things to talk about. He knew more about me than anyone else at that time, even to the point of being able to read my mind.

I was naive, but I was in love.

(more…)

Why the Church Needs to Address Porn Addiction for Women

/ Freedom From Sexual Sin & Shame, Pornography, Purity, Resources, Sexual Addiction / 8 Comments

Pornography does not only hurt men. Porn enters into our churches and impacts men AND women. When was the last time you heard a sermon on porn in your church? If so, when was the last time you heard it preached to women?

Most female porn addicts feel alone. This could be because the church isn’t talking about it.
Instead of finding freedom, women live alone in shame and bondage. (more…)

This Father’s Day, Get to Know Your Heavenly Father

/ Devotional, Healing, Love, Relationship with Jesus, The Journey / 1 Comment

Our view and relationship with our earthly dad is reflected in our view and relationship with our heavenly Dad. For this reason, I believe it is incredibly important to turn to scripture and learn about our heavenly Father this Father’s Day. If you don’t have a great relationship with your earthly dad, I pray that today you would spend extra time getting to known your heavenly Dad. One way to do this is to begin understanding the names of God, which will help us understand His character. (more…)

Christian Dating: When My Body Doesn’t Know I’m a Christian

/ Christian Dating, Devotional, Freedom From Sexual Sin & Shame, Purity, Singleness & Dating, Surrender Life to Jesus / 19 Comments

Doesn’t my body know that I started to follow Jesus my freshman year of college? Yet, why does it constantly not follow Jesus? My mind. My heart. My body. All connected, and yet all do their own thing. Christian dating is hard. Setting physical boundaries is hard. You can only read so many devotionals, Christian blogs and Bible verses on purity before you begin to wonder, what am I doing wrong? Why is none of this controlling my body?

What do you do if you’ve set physical boundaries and you’re pursuing purity in dating, yet your body is doing its own thing?

Allow me to share my story, one of the many stories where my body acts differently from my heart and mind. Through my story and through Scripture, let’s learn together what to do when our bodies don’t know we are Christians. (more…)