This Week's Links

A list of some of my favorite reads around the internet this week. Enjoy!!

What Christians Need to Know About Mental Health by Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience

Helping Women Isn't Just a Nice Thing to Do by Fmr. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

"But fighting to give women and girls a fighting chance isn't a nice thing to do. It isn't some luxury that we get to when we have time on our hands to spend doing that. This is a core imperative for every human being and every society.

It's no coincidence that so many of the countries that threaten regional and global peace are the very places where women and girls are deprived of dignity and opportunity...It is no coincidence that so many of the countries making the leap from poverty to prosperity are places now grappling with how to empower women. I think it is one of the unanswered questions of the rest of this century to whether countries, like China and India, can sustain their growth and emerge as true global economic powers. Much of that depends on what happens to women and girls."

Where is Your God Now? by Brad Curry at The Blue Quill

Is Doubt an STD? by Rachel Held Evans

"I was young and newly married when I first started whispering these questions out loud--Did Anne Frank really go to hell? How does a young earth explain how we can see the light of distant stars? Did God really ask Joshua to commit genocide? Is it possible to follow Jesus with my intellectual and emotional integrity intact? How can we know any of this is true?

These questions emerged from the deepest, truest parts of my being, after many sleepless nights, long talks with Dan, tears of frustration, intense study and prayer, and seemingly endless periods of silence. It was my first encounter with doubt, and it was scary."

The Target A profile of the beautiful and brave Malala Yousafzai by Marie Brenner for Vanity Fair. It's long, but worth reading, especially if you have been following her remarkable story

The Sexy Wife I Can't Be by Mary DeMuth for A Deeper Church. This piece of writing is incredibly brave, and incredibly necessary.

"I walk with a giant limp in the sexy wife arena. I still feel outright rage when I read that for the sake of my           husband, I'm supposed to be adventurous and wild, that to be this way represents true spousal godliness. Because honestly? Those words just make me feel less than. Those are a set of guidelines I'll probably never meet.

I haven't given up. I press on to be whole. But I also know my limitations. And I know that many of you are reading this and saying, yes, yes. Mind if I offer you grace?"

In Which Jezebel Gives Way to Deborah by Sarah Bessey

My Year on Match.com by Anne Lamott for Salon

Relief by John Blase at The Beautiful Due

"So save yourself some embarrassment

and don't ask me to bless the eggs

unless you're comfortable with 

suessy word-lobs like rupiefonb

(I prayed that nonsense for a week)."