Talking about sex to your child can be scary. It's awkward. Are you going to say something wrong? And you don't like to feel that they're growing up! Everyday I get questions like this recent one, from a reader:Hi! Your books and podcast have helped me tremendously!...
One of the hardest things to do is to break dysfunctional cycles. Whether it's in our families or in our churches, being a changemaker is hard. But it is so, so necessary. It's the most vital thing that we all need to do. You can be the top politician in the land; you...
Are women responsible for keeping men from lusting? There’s a chilling and glaring error in complementarian theology; men are supposed to lead women and children - both at home and in the church (with many teachers going so far as to say that women cannot even give...
I read a story about how a youth group culture contributed to a young woman feeling guilty about her own assaults. I'd like to share it today, because it fits in to everything we've been talking about with She Deserves Better, our new book that launches April 18 (and...
It's time to focus on the effects of modesty messages on girls--rather than the effects of girls on boys. For the last few weeks we've been talking about modesty rules for teens, on the podcast, on the blog, and on social media. I often get extremely frustrated...
When we talk about modesty, I often see commenters saying, "But she's dressing like a ho." Whenever the talk comes up about how girls shouldn't be held responsible for boys' and men's thoughts, inevitably someone will say, "What about all the girls coming into church...
Why did the evangelical church not recognize pedophilic language? Last week on the Bare Marriage podcast we told you about Dannah Gresh's Secret Keeper Girl curriculum, popular during purity culture, which told 8-12 year-old girls that their bellies were...
Do boys have to fight constantly not to picture girls naked? Yesterday on the Bare Marriage podcast (episode 183) we walked you through some of the problems that we discovered with the modesty messages that were given to girls as teens, especially during the purity...
How does hearing modesty messages as a teen affect you as an adult? We're working through another big chapter in our new book She Deserves Better today! For She Deserves Better, we surveyed 7000+ women to learn how their experiences as teens in church affect them...
In his book Grace-Filled Marriage, Tim Kimmel blames a girl for her own rape.TRIGGER WARNING: Discussions of rape as a teen in the rest of this article.I thought today, for International Women's Day, I'd like to look at what Kimmel said, but especially at all the...
What dating rules work best for teen girls? We're so excited that our brand new book She Deserves Better: Raising Girls to Resist Toxic Teachings on Sex, Self and Speaking Up launches next month! Until that launch, we want to take the podcasts to walk you through some...
We simply must talk more about how spanking affects children long term. The biggest group of people who still support spanking are evangelical Christians, yet the research about spanking being harmful for kids is overwhelming. I'm not going to rehash that today,...
Every now and then my grandkids give me a picture of God’s love for us. Or rather, their parents do. I don’t share about my grandkids very often, but last week, on a private Instagram page, Rebecca posted a series of pictures of my 3-year-old grandson Alex and his dad...
I am so grateful to all of you who show up in this community, engage on this blog and on social media. I’m so grateful to those of you who listen to the podcast, send me messages, and let me know we’re making a difference! And I know that so many of you have said that...
I'm baaaaccckkkk!! Hello! It's Sheila back on the blog today, after returning from our trip of a lifetime for our 30th anniversary and 50th birthday (both belated because of COVID). Many thanks to Rebecca and Connor for holding down the fort while we were gone! Tammy...