I have heard that a woman’s sensuality is like a flower, to be coaxed open gently and with tenderness. I have always longed to be this woman, as the very essence of that metaphor suggests she can be coaxed open. Gently but assuredly, she will respond to her husband who loves her. I imagine her…
My phone dinged and my stomach sunk. Was that Nathan again? What happened at work today? What advice would I give to fix the situation? I could call my friend’s cousin and see if their company is hiring. I could go wait tables and stop this fanciful writing. I could send out his resume to…
I remember the first time. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I was twenty-three and had been sexually active since I was fifteen, but this was the first time I’d had sex as a married woman. As I lay there, tears rolling, I realized that God was in this space. He delighted in what was happening…
We’d been married only a few months when I realized something was wrong. Physical relationships outside of marriage had been my status quo for years. Honestly, I assumed that part of marriage would be easiest for me. So I was totally shocked when I shut down. And my husband? Completely hurt. Neither of us knew what…
It seems everywhere we turn, there are voices granting us permission to fail. This permission to fail and still be loved—this grace—is a beautiful thing, right? Without it, we would forever feel defeated. We’d define ourselves by failure instead of acceptance. But failure isn’t the same thing as quitting. Failure says we were on a…
