Thank God for Fabs Harford: Why get married at all and Two things I'm praying for marriage/singleness

Have American Parents Got It All Backwards? by Christine Gross-Loh.

From Francis Chan and David Platt's introduction to the new edition of Piper's ‘A Hunger for God ’ :

If we really want to be a part of seeing disciples made and churches multiplied throughout North America and to the ends of the earth, we would be wise to begin on our knees....There is spiritual delight to be found in God that far supersedes the physical diet of this world, and fasting is the means by which we say to God, “More than our stomachs want food, our souls want you.” Once we “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8), the things of the world no longer appeal to us in the same way....We fast because we’re hungry for God’s Word and God’s Spirit in our lives. We fast because we long for God’s glory to resound in the church and God’s praise to resound among the nations. We fast because we yearn for God’s Son to return and God’s kingdom to come. Ultimately we fast simply because we want God more than we want anything this world has to offer us.

Telling the Story from the Bible, from the Gospel Coalition: wonderful story Bibles for people of all ages. Yes.

Nine Keys for Leading Women's Ministry by Hilary Tompkins, The Resurgence. 

Do you want the women you lead to be honest and transparent? Then you gotta go first, sister.Women follow many types of women leaders, but they see Jesus in a woman who is real, repentant, grace-giving, and living that out in front of her team.

stop asking Jesus into your heart

1. J. D. Greear in an interview about his new book: 

“If you are right now trusting in Christ’s finished work and submitting to his Lordship, that proves you are saved. If you are not, then it doesn’t matter what “ceremony” you went through. Assurance doesn’t come through a memory of a past event, but through our present posture....
“For every one look we take at our sinful heart, we should take 10 looks at Christ....
“You will never have the strength to say “no” to sin until you realize the unconditional “yes” that God has given to you in Christ. You’ll never give up your life in radical obedience until you are radically assured of his radical commitment to you.”

2. On adoption: My Child's Backstory is None of Your Business

“I think the thoughtless telling of our children's stories stems from forgetting something that all parents are prone to forget: my child is my neighbor. Yes, I am his parent—with all the authority and responsibility that entails. Of course. But my child is not simply my possession or an extension of myself. He is a human being, made in the image of God, with a soul that will never die. And his story does not belong to me.”

1. “Learning to design is, first of all, learning to see. Designers see more, and more precisely. This is a blessing and a curse — once we have learned to see design, both good and bad, we cannot un-see. The downside is that the more you learn to see, the more you lose your ‘common’ eye, the eye you design for. This can be frustrating for us designers when we work for a customer with a bad eye and strong opinions. But this is no justification for designer arrogance or eye-rolling. Part of our job is to make the invisible visible, to clearly express what we see, feel and do. You can’t expect to sell what you can’t explain.”

Oliver Reichenstein, via Swiss Miss