Friday Link Up

These are some of my favorite reads around the internet these past two weeks. Grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and enjoy!

In Which I Have Circles of Friendship-And a Lobster by Sarah Bessey

Why Progressive Christians Should Care About Abortion by Rachel Held Evans

Fourteen and Sexually Screwed Up by Grace Biske for Prodigal Magazine

"We need to consider these devastating realities and to learn to care and advocate for all our "sexually screwed up" kids. We need to learn to tend to those, like me, whose world has shattered. Can we stop telling kids to "save themselves" for marriage without considering that they may have already had sex stolen from them? When we don't do this we unnecessarily burden them. Can we bring up sex in other contexts besides when we want to say how pre-marital sex is displeasing to the Lord?"

Ask Jennifer Knapp (Response) Q&A hosted over at Rachel Held Evans' place

The Stories I Read to My Children by Katherine Willis Pershey for A Deeper Family

Karl Barth's 3 Aphorisms on Doubt by Derek Rishmawy

"But in the face of his doubt, even if it be the most radical, the theologian should not despair. Doubt indeed has its time and place. In the present period no one, not even the theologian, can escape it. But the theologian should not despair, because this age has a boundary beyond which again and again he may obtain a glimpse when he begs God, “Thy Kingdom Come!”

The Gospel in Her Home: True Beauty  by Tiffany Valdez

Why I Write: A Story in 3 Parts by Adam Walker Cleaveland for A Deeper Story

At Least One Person Waiting by Jonathan Martin for She Loves Magazine

A Letter to My Daughter, On Marriage by Caris Adel

No, the love I wish for you is an inefficient partnership. The one that knows it will take decades to know and know again, know anew, the person that you are. An inefficient partner who is willing to submit to the slow process himself, showing his own wounds and weaknesses, even though he is told not to. I want an emotional man for you, even though he is told men are simply logical.I want someone who knows himself well enough to know what hides behind his walls, but who loves you enough to sacrifice his pride so you can join him behind it. And I hope you are just as willing to have him hide with you behind yours when it’s a season of hiding.

The (real life) Dictionary Definition of "Mother"  by Lisa Jo Baker

10 Beautiful Words About Love That Don't Exist in English at Urbandud

The Mother Wound at Mama Unabridged

You may have heard about the “trolley problem” – a nifty thought experiment that forces you to consider whether you would sacrifice a life that is dear to you in order to save the lives of many others. This used to be an interesting philosophical problem to mull over; now there is no mystery. My heartfelt apologies to anyone on that imaginary trolley, but I would save my son. Always, always, I would choose to save my son.