Category Archives: Guest Blogger

Reblog: The Supreme Court Just Gave American Evangelicals a Gift

27 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by in Current Affairs, Guest Blogger, Justice, Missions, Scripture

≈ 1 Comment

I have never re-blogged a post before, but I think this is a great reminder of the battles that Jesus truly calls us to fight. Matthew 25 gives us our marching orders as followers of Jesus. Thank you, Ed, for the reminder.

Ed Cyzewski: Author // Contemplative

supreme-court-same-sex-marriage

Evangelicals are tenacious, persistent, and driven when they want to fight for a cause. The problem is that American evangelicals have been swept up in fighting for the wrong cause for a long time.

When the Supreme Court ruled to make same sex marriage the law of the land, American evangelicals received a gift that many don’t want: official permission to fight for people in need instead of fighting against same sex marriage.

Whatever you believe about same sex marriage, the role of government, and the future of the church in America, disagreeing with same sex marriage on moral grounds does not demand a public campaign to prevent it from becoming legally sanctioned. While I remain committed to creating room for affirming and non-affirming evangelicals who unite under the common banner of saving faith in Christ, evangelicals in America should have never made legalized same sex marriage a central moral…

View original post 940 more words

Brave

23 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Brave, Guest Blogger

≈ Leave a comment

Please welcome, Michelle Discavage, our latest guest blogger to share her thoughts on what it means to be brave.  Michelle is another wonderful For the Love sister-friend and another Texan.  Y’all, I think I attract Texan friends 🙂 Her story below is one that really resonated with me; the wildly beating heart, lump in my throat, one last gulp and the leap of faith.  AND the exhilaration that follows a brave choice. After all, as she says, being brave is being scared and doing it anyway! After you read this great post, go check out her blog Chasing the Divine for even more wonderfulness.  

michelleblogBrave  By Michelle Discavage

Brave. I find it easy to be brave when discussing a situation, when discussing dreams and goals. But when I am face to face with them, when the dreaming becomes a reality? Bravery is never readily found.

I have had this dream strolling through my mind for a while. Some may call it crazy, others may support it. But this dream? It has been stirring within me for longer than I care to admit. In two months, the dream I have pictured in my mind a dozen times, the dream I have discussed with only a select few, is going to become a reality.

Yes, I am scared. But I am going to do it anyway.

Why would I willingly choose such a frightening circumstance? It is what I do, it is what I am called to do.

Years ago I stood on a stage staring out at 600 plus faces. The stage seemed so large, and the lights were sure to magnify my thumping pulse. Just share your testimony they said. Sure I had shared it a multitude of times, in small groups, in face to face conversations. But that day I was asked to share with the entire camp, and I wanted to do well. Continue reading →

Baby, You Look Brave

10 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Brave, Guest Blogger, Parenting

≈ 2 Comments

You guys are in for a treat in today’s guest post about Being Brave!  Meet my new friend, Melinda Mattson, another writer friend and For the Love sister.  She is a great writer; funny, insightful and real. Reading her blog, Savoring the Present and Whatever is Lovely, brings back wonderful memories for me because she has two of the most beautiful, funny, delightful little girls you have ever seen.  Many of her posts highlight tales from the parenting trenches and the challenges and joys that are part of the journey.  

You are going to love this story about what it means to be a brave mommy.  It was originally published on her blog on Columbus Day. Her Ainsley reminds me of a certain little girl who used to live in my house and I might have laughed out loud and cried big fat tears when I first read this sweet story.  Enjoy!

Welcome, Melinda!!

Baby, You Look Brave  By Guest Blogger, Melinda Mattson

Thanks for the day off from school, Columbus. Though it was a holiday the day was not without struggle. Our trials were likely not as difficult as sailing by night and sailing by day using only the stars to guide our way. But alas, the waters were a wee choppy for us today on our tender vessel.

I was glad to let the girls stay up past their bedtime last night. Though I thought we’d be up just a bit later, it turned out to be ten o’clock before we turned the lights out. This is late for us but I figured we’d make up for it this morning when we could sleep in as late as we wanted. That was until 6:16am when I heard the thunderous sound of galloping girls coming down the stairs and into our bedroom.

It was Emerson who spoke first, “The alarm is going off in our room!” I was fogged over with unfinished dreams and interrupted REM so it took more than a few seconds for me to register that I had to actually get up out of the bed to figure out what the matter was. Once I had padded up the stairs I heard the unmistakable beeping of the clock radio docking station that sits on Em’s dresser.

The odd thing is we never set this alarm in the girls’ room because it’s the girls’ room. Did I mention they’re in there? We want them to sleep. When they do have to get up for school Dirk does the waking so they didn’t even know there was an alarm in their room let alone how to turn it off. I have no idea how it got set but I’m reasonably sure it was Satan’s doing. Continue reading →

When Fear and Faith Collide

04 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by in Brave, Faith, Guest Blogger, Scripture

≈ 2 Comments

Friends, meet my new friend, Hannah, this week’s guest in my Being Brave series.  Hannah is another one of my wonderful new friends from the For the Love launch team and she just recently graduated from college. I have asked a number of my fellow bloggers at FTL to share with us their courageous journey and their definition of being brave.  I love that each unique offering has shown us a different aspect of what it means to be brave. I think you will find great wisdom in Hannah’s story.  After you read these beautiful words by Hannah, be sure to go check out her blog at This Sweetly Broken Life.  Hannah is wise beyond her tender years and a beautiful writer.  And she is brave!  

Welcome, Hannah!

When Fear and Faith Collide  By Guest Blogger, Hannah Card

GoodEverything in my essence is naturally fearful.

I worry, I stress, I get anxious over every little thing.

I want more than anything to radically abandon fear and follow Jesus and yet, my worries overtake me.

My relationship with fear was particularly challenged when I felt called to Africa last summer.

There, God called me far beyond my comfort zone.

I will never forget the day I printed the State Department packet. The government has a packet of information they recommend that you read specifically for each country before you travel there.

So, like any good student, I printed off my packet and got to reading. Continue reading →

Choosing Brave Over Bitter

27 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Brave, Guest Blogger, Love and Marriage, Scripture

≈ 5 Comments

Please meet my new friend, Kelly Smith.  I met Kelly through the For the Love Launch team and she is smart, lovely and a great writer!  Kelly blogs over at Mrs. Disciple and you should all go follow her immediately. I love the way she weaves her extensive knowledge of scripture into her thoughtful posts.  The one she graciously agreed to share with us here features one of my favorite bible stories about Hagar and the God Who Sees Me. Here are her thoughts on what it means to Be Brave in marriage.  Welcome, Kelly!!

braveoverbitterBy Guest Blogger, Kelly Smith

Most would consider the opposite of brave to be fearful. I propose that, in marriage, the opposite of brave can be bitter.

I could almost taste the bitterness in my mouth. I hung up the phone, having just given another yes when my heart screamed no. My husband had a benign, time-consuming hobby that took up most of his free time. He considerately asked each day, and I begrudgingly consented each day.

From time-to-time, the internal conflict between love and misery would rise to the surface. I would explode about something, usually unrelated. Then I resumed stuffing my emotions and handing out yeses with pretend grace. Continue reading →

Half of the Moon

18 Monday May 2015

Posted by in Blogs, Brave, Guest Blogger, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

As I have shared with you before, I have been blown away by the community that I have found as part of the For The Love launch team. Many of us are aspiring writers, so we have decided to encourage and support one another by introducing our readers to one another.  I told my new writing friends to send me their favorite post about being brave, my theme for this season of my journey.  Here is the “brave first” in this series of guest posts from my talented writer friends.

Friends, meet Andrea.  She blogs over at Empty Plate, Full Heart because she believes that hearts are filled when stories are shared.  She is kind, encouraging, funny, generous and beautiful.  She is also a Texan!  Please enjoy this beautiful piece from my new friend Andrea about being brave.  Then go check out her blog!

Half of the Moon by Guest Blogger, Andrea Stunz

“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”  ~Mark Twain 

IMG_4868The moon is always a whole moon but it’s never fully exposed. When it reveals itself in what we call a full moon, it’s still just half of the moon. We only see one side of it. It’s impossible for us, on earth, to see the moon fully. Fully exposed. Fully known. Fully vulnerable. Only God can see it fully.

We are a moon. We are a whole being but we don’t expose ourselves fully. We may reveal more to some than others but there is a side to us that only God can see.

It takes so much courage and trust to share ourselves in all of our fulness. Fully exposed. Fully known. Fully vulnerable. Many of us try. Many of us don’t. Many of us can’t. We’ve been burned from past exposure, often repeatedly, and closed off that part of our soul that no one could ever love enough to protect. This is why we need grace and the Giver of it.

God sees our other half. He sees the dark side. The hidden parts. He longs for us to share that with Him. He waits for us to tell him about these parts even though He already knows. Because He knows that in the telling that we will see that He is trustworthy and we will find our brave.

We are the moon. He is the Creator of it. He sees us fully and loves us anyway. So so much.

On the dark side of the moon there is a sun. It covers the darkness with light. It brings freedom. It brings hope.

So there’s that.

Hallelujah!!

~Andrea

 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! 1 Corinthians 13:12 (The Message)

Originally published on Andrea’s blog: Empty Heart, Full Plate