Vacations = awesome. As much as I love my job, going back to work this week was a bit of a reality check. I think I may have gotten a little too used to never setting alarm clocks and reading all day. Reading 7 books in 7 days was lovely, and the only reason I could think of to be grateful when I got hit with the flu yesterday was that at least I had an excuse to lay around and read. (I did.)
In addition to finishing Powerful and Free over the weekend (along with yet another novel), I also had a chance to finish Invitation to Tears, by Jonalyn Fincher and Aubrie Hills. I’m looking forward to reviewing it next week.
photo courtesy of ©Depositphotos.com / luckybusiness
Earlier this spring, Charisma Magazine re-published an article called 5 Things Every Married Man Should Do Around Single Women. I remember seeing it and thinking it somewhat ridiculous – over the top and a little insulting – to both women and men – so I really appreciated Luke Harms’ response in this article today: 5 Ways Married Men Can Act Like Adults Around Women (Single Or Not). This was my favorite line: “When purity culture teaches us that every woman is a potential threat to the stability of our marriages and the integrity of our homes, that’s a problem.” True story. If you follow the links, please note that Luke is writing a little tongue-in-cheek for most of the article – but he’s got some really valid points. There is so much health, freedom, and wisdom we miss out on when we choose to let fear direct our choices.
Earlier this spring, my friend Dan Brennan did an interview with Jonalyn Fincher about cross-gender friendships, and they addressed a lot of the issues raised in those two articles. I’d heard bits and pieces of it before, but I finally got a chance to listen to the entire interview this week, and it was excellent stuff. I would highly recommend it, and you can download it here for $3.99. Totally worth it. You can also catch pieces of it on Jonalyn’s blog, rubyslippers.org, by following the tag “cross-sex friendship.”
Every now and again, I’ll come across a song that just sticks with me for awhile. That happened again this week. Take a listen; this is Every Breath, by Michaela McLaird.
I’ve also been hooked on and off this year on an album by Tyrone Wells called This Love. If you’re looking for new music, it’s definitely worth your time.
While it’s true that I have been an Apple fan since 6th grade (anyone remember the Apple 2e?!), I do on occasion appreciate other computer companies’ advertising. (Even if their ads will never sway me.) This ad from Dell is pretty hilarious, tho:
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Kathleen Basi
July 11, 2014The longer I live around NFP teaching, promoting and simply practicing, the more I realize how much wisdom is in it. All our problems about the way men and women interact are addressed by the expectations set up in Church teaching…it is mind-blowing, how many people have blinders on this subject and have the blame split backwards.
Happy
July 11, 2014Hey, Kathleen! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂 I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say that *all* our problems are caused by the things that some churches have taught/still teach – but there is a *lot* that’s mind-blowing about the way some Christians talk/think about male/female relationships. It’s something I write a lot about – I hope you’ll join the conversations as they happen here. I’d love to know more about how Natural Family Planning impacts the way you think about cross-gender friendships and marriage!