by Emily Wierenga | Apr 30, 2013 | anger, blogging, community, criticism, dialogue, feminism, hurt, Jennifer Dukes Lee, Jesus, michelle derusha, prodigal magazine, servanthood post
“It’s not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;...
by Emily Wierenga | Apr 29, 2013 | Amy Bowman, beauty, cancer, cancer journey, God, journal, mom in the mirror, motherhood, pain, prayer, radiation, The Love Dare, truth, womanhood
Journal of CancerApril 2011Radiation–Round 13 of 26I have come far. I have so much to be thankful for. There are many ups and downs. Today was a down, but I’ll get back up there.I was late for radiation today.It was a hard morning…I...
by Emily Wierenga | Apr 26, 2013 | book giveaway, dream, dreamers, God-sized dreams, grace, holley gerth, identity, Jumping Tandem retreat, lisa-jo baker, mercy, platform, shepherd, success, woundedness
I had the privilege of meeting Holley Gerth and Lisa-Jo Baker amongst dozens of other beautiful bloggers in the flesh this past weekend at the Jumping Tandem retreat, a weekend nestled in the fields of Ashland, Nebraska, a retreat which Lisa-Jo would describe as...
by Emily Wierenga | Apr 24, 2013 | abandonment, betrayal, christian, church, Churchian, congregation, forgiveness, grace, hurt, hurting, Jesus, pain, people, salvation, suffering
Welcome to Imperfect Prose on Thursdays. Today’s post is written by IP team member Elizabeth Stewart of Just Following Jesus. Link up your posts below!I read the words and I see the wounds behind them. The words weep with hurt and ooze with the putrid...
by Emily Wierenga | Apr 23, 2013 | art, belief, children, dreams, faith, God, Jumping Tandem retreat, prayer, speaking, spirituality, workshop, worship
“When I was a little girl, I dreamed that I could touch God,” she says in a soft voice.We’re in a room at the Carol Joy Hollings Center, at the Jumping Tandem Retreat, and I’m leading a workshop on giving birth to our dreams. I’ve...
by Emily Wierenga | Apr 22, 2013 | author, book, brokenness, eating disorders, giveaway, healing, Hollow, hope, identity, Jena Morrow, The Love Dare
(Guest post by author Jena Morrow)All my life I had dreamt of becoming a mommy. It wasn’t my only dream, but it was certainly the most important dream in my little girl heart. I was the child who never went anywhere without a baby doll tucked under my arm...
by Emily Wierenga | Apr 19, 2013 | doubt, father, fault, forgiveness, God, mother, Purity Culture, self-loathing, sexual abuse, shame, suicide
(Guest post by Anonymous*) The blogosphere has been discussing the Purity Culture a lot lately. I’ve heard all sides from how it hurt those who did and didn’t “wait,” how harmful it is to all sexes and genders and races, and so on. Having been...
by Emily Wierenga | Apr 17, 2013 | abuse, apology, book giveaway, brennan manning, christian, convictions, feminism, gender issue, imperfect prose on thursdays, Jen Hatmaker, manhood, prayers, servanthood post, stories, trigger, womanhood, writer
I’m not sure but that there isn’t a time in every one’s life when we’re called–To stand up for what we believe in. But before we stand, we have to know what we believe, and before I became a wife and a mother, I didn’t really know.I didn’t know the way I would...
by Emily Wierenga | Apr 16, 2013 | anger, brain cancer, British, family, forgiveness, grandmother, heaven, mum, nanny, prodigal magazine, suicide
Sometimes it’s easier to feel angry.It’s easier to feel angry than it is to admit how much you miss her.It’s easier to feel angry than it is to stare at that urn with its Chinese markings and to know that your British grandmother died from a razor...
by Emily Wierenga | Apr 15, 2013 | Alise Wright, church, depression, God, hobbies, identity, lies, life, love, music, passion, piano, self-worth, The Love Dare, titles, truth, value
I spent two years not touching a piano. And when playing music is where you feel the most like yourself, two years is a long time to go without feeling completely you.I was told that everything I was doing was wrong in the area where I was the most passionate and the...
