Christmas. Advent. Yuletide. You’re here again. Neighbors have safely scurried down from their ladders. Houses are lit. Trees are lit. Nativity scenes are set up. Choir concerts. Ugly sweater parties. Holly and ivy. Red and green ribbons. Frazzled shoppers have exhaled a sigh of relief as they finally pull out of the mall traffic. Zales, Jared’s, Kay and your local …

It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. I already know. You’re absolutely freaking out. You’re not at all sure what to do with the fact that it seems like every one of your friends has gotten married or is getting married. Turning 25 and being what you internally call yourself, “irrevocably single,” isn’t easy. You feel alone. There’s no …

Few churches have true “singles” groups anymore. Maybe, singles ministries (rightly or wrongly) got a bad rap. Sometimes, they were Bible studies that doubled as meat markets. Other times they were merely a calendar of events meant to tie the few remaining unmarried congregants together in wedded bliss. For better or worse, there are now so many single adults in …

Summer is officially over in the northern hemisphere, but I’m still sitting at the beach enjoying the sun, trying to avoid becoming a strawberry (freckles combined with sunburn). I am so grateful for the rest and relaxation—the time to catch up on sleep, laugh with my family and re-read favorite books. But I’ll admit that my neck is a little …

I’ve got something to confess. I am a skanky, extra-marital hugger. Always have been and probably always will be. I come from a long line of huggers on both sides. My mom hugs everyone, whether they feel like a hug or not. My grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts on both sides are all into the full, double-armed embrace. And shocker—we’d …

Everywhere you turn these days, a new organics-only grocery store or farmer’s market pops up. The phrase buy “fresh and local” rings out from blog posts, cooking shows and bumper stickers, on every other foodie blog, Barefoot Contessa episode and Subaru Outback. Bring up genetically modified foods or pesticides on a Paleo Diet Internet forum, and you might get your …

Later this year, I will enter the third decade of my life. I’m still as single as I was at 20. I question if it’s worth it to keep praying for a husband. I have been praying for a husband for the better part of the last 10 years, and I’ve wondered, on bad days, if I’ve been attempting to …

People have been giving advice, both welcome and unwelcome, since the dawn of time. The only difference between now and then is that now, you can not only receive advice from those in close geographical proximity, but you can literally gather pearls of wisdom via the Internet from the four corners of the earth, from every perspective known to man …

On my best days, I can say with Tim Keller that “Jesus is enough,” but many times I am living with that leftover attitude, orphan-like frame of mind—and I see flickers of it in other singles as well. We read the promises of God to us in Scripture that He is our portion, our strength, our refuge, our family and yet still think, speak and live …

“Illusions are dangerous people. They have no flaws.” – Irene, Sabrina (1995) I’ve read most everything that Jane Austen has written. I read her work in my teens, in my 20s, and even though I’ll only be tiptoeing into my 30s this year, it’s highly probable that I’ll read those classics again. Her wit, her social commentary and her ability …