I remember spending countless hours in my backyard as a young boy, imagining myself as a brave knight conquering foes, rescuing damsels in distress, and saving the day. A stick I had carved with my pocketknife served as my sword and my gray sweatshirt with the hood pulled up was my armor. And while I’m sure it was a funny sight to behold — a nine-year-old swinging a stick wildly through the air —...
Honoring God in Your “Situationship”: Advice for the Season Between Single and Dating
“We need to just make up a word.” I agreed. We both paused. I had no ideas. I vetoed “friends+”, but when he suggested “situationship” it seemed to fit. It doesn’t roll off my tongue well, but then again, where Peter and I are at is not something that fits neatly into a box. We aren’t ‘just friends’ anymore, and we decided it wouldn’t help to pretend that’s all we are. But we’re also...
What Do I Do With My Longing for Love? With Paula Hendricks Marsteller
We all want to be loved. But how do we find love that lasts and satisfies the ache in our hearts? Paula Hendricks Marsteller is very familiar with this longing and is the first to confess that she used to be more than a little “boy-crazy.” She even wrote a book about her experiences called “Confessions of a Boy-Crazy Girl.” But Paula found the answer as she went on a journey from neediness to...
The Truth About Belonging
You sit surrounded by people, yet you feel alone. Each person talks to someone else. Each one seems to feel completely at home with those around them. You get a few glances, maybe even a few smiles, but there’s no doubting you feel like an outsider. You feel small. You feel invisible. Even if you’re conversing with someone, perhaps one you may even call a friend, you wonder if they’re really...
Longing for Narnia: Life on the Wrong Side of the Wardrobe
It was Narnia that started the whole trouble. As a little girl, I was mostly concerned with stories about puppies and ponies – not fantasy epics. Narnia was coy. It lured me in with promises of talking animals, then awoke in me a longing too serious for words. From then on, I knew I belonged to another world. At first, I assumed it was a love of Narnia in particular. That wasn’t it at all. When I...
When God Doesn’t Fulfill Your Heart’s Desire
Just today, I got a message from a girl on social media who shared this: I am still not married and it’s what I’ve desired and dreamed of since I was twelve years old. If it’s not God’s will, I have been diligently praying that He would take away this desire, but He hasn’t. What unfulfilled longings are weighing on your heart right now? Getting married? Having one real and true friend? Having...
Made for Another World: Lessons from C.S. Lewis and The Weight of Glory
“Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” — C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory Like most...