Bloom!

            Here are some of our "footprints" around the web this month... Paperbackswap.com is a great resource for all you book-lovers! By joining Paperbackswap (PBS), you are able to mail a book of yours, receive a credit, and then use that credit to "buy" a book from someone else. PBS is a great way to find some of those harder-to-find books or more pricey ones. It's also a great way to obtain some great Christian biographies or inspiring stories. A  movie based on the book Alone Yet Not Alone by Tracy Leininger is set to come out on April 5th!  Tracy Leininger based the book off two of her ancestors, Barbara and Regina, and follows their story as they are kidnapped by Indians and how their faith in Christ is their hope through it all.  We're really excited about this movie and hope that it turns out to be as encouraging as the book! May He guide you and bless you! Joanna, Megan, Kris...

     I will start this article off with a link to the true story of Easter. One I know you have probably heard many times. The Easter story is one of the most important truths in the Bible, but often we almost skim through it. We don't take the time to really think about the significance of the    sacrifice and the glory of the Resurrection. We have heard the same story preached time and time again to the point that it seems to be old hat. "Sure, Jesus died so I could live forever. Blah. Blah. Blah. Big deal. I'd rather be reading about one of those awesome Old Testament battles." That may be taking it a little far, but there is some truth to it. We don't, and never will, truly comprehend the greatness of what Christ did on the cross. He conquered death, all sin, and Satan himself. Let's read the truth of Easter according to John. Click here to read John 18-20. This tells of the physical torment Christ went through. I can hardly imagine having to su...

We're happy to share a conversation we had with Janine recently.  When Bloom! was a print magazine, Janine was one of our writers, as well as a friend of ours.  We're excited how the Lord is moving in her life and are glad to share that with you... Janine, how and when did you get started on the journey of living for Jesus? My journey with Jesus has been an incredible one. The Lord was so gracious to me by allowing me to grow up in a Christian family where I was taught about Jesus from a young age. When I was eight-years-old, I realized that I had done wrong and deserved to be separated from God in hell. At that time, God allowed me to hear and understand the Gospel - that Jesus came to live among us without sin, die a death that He did not deserve, and rise again so that we could now have a relationship with the God who created us. At that time, I called on the name of Jesus for salvation. As I've grown older , the Lord has continued to lead me fu...

In late February Joanna arrived in Taiwan where she is teaching English and sharing God's love there for half a year.  We thought it would be encouraging to share with you what our mighty King is doing on the island through her monthly "Tales from Taiwan".  May they bless you and encourage you! Dear sisters in Christ, I never expected the Lord to send me to Asia. Sure, I have traveled abroad before and love it, but for some reason I never thought Asia would be one of the continents that I would be able to say, "Yep, been there!" So in late January when He gave me an opportunity to minister in Taiwan, I was definitely surprised!  I had recently been healed from my life threatening allergy ( when pain doesn't fly away ) and was asking the Lord where He would have me serve next. It reminds me of that verse from 1 Corinthians 2:9: "But just as it is written, things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entere...

What do you think of when you hear the phrase, "Biblical Womanhood"? Maybe it makes you smile. Maybe it makes you cringe. Maybe you picture one of the misconceptions we've written about, or another one. But does it sound powerful to you? Glorious, important, strong and beautiful? Because that, lovelies, is what it is. That is God's vision for us as His daughters. This kind of femininity is under strong attack these days. There are plenty of misconceptions and stereotypes,  and most people turn up their noses at the idea. But it's under attack because Satan knows just how powerful it can be when we delight in the way we were created. When He made us women, the capstone of His creation, it wasn't a demeaning position. To both Adam and Eve was given the command to "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth....

Biblical Womanhood: He Made Us to Be Free The Dresser My dress was made of ragged faith, Its edges trimmed with little grace, And weaved throughout were jagged threads Of fabricated “patience”, Whose cold, coarse color seemed quite dead To life, and built a sturdy fence To shut out hope and love. I marched on a path that looked straight, But curved in ways I couldn’t see, Until it seemed it was too late, And I saw that it wasn’t me, But a stiff girl with a broken soul Who wasn’t to be told she was shattered, When she thought that she was whole. The Submitter I walked the road of weariness, I believed I had to be A blade of grass in the blowing wind, Swaying like the rocking sea, Heeding to each person’s whim, But never looking back at Me. I didn’t understand that the Lord Was all about love, and not fear, About helping when it’s right, About grace, and not tears. The Unequal I didn’t recognize We are all made af...

Misconception #3: the unequal This particular misconception is touted around in our day by both non-believers and believers. They say that the woman is lower than the man, that she is not equal with him. They say that because of this, she must “submit” (like “the submitter”) to every man. Think of these two situations: 1) A woman is offered some help carrying a heavy load of groceries by a young man at the grocery store. Chagrined at the imposition of helplessness, she refuses the man and reasons that she is a liberated woman who is able to carry her own things. 2) A woman in college does everything that all her male friends tell her to do, thinking that it is a woman’s job to follow men. Is there something that seems odd in these two situations? The Unequal Woman can be presented in two extremes: as someone who finds herself not needing men and someone who mistakenly sees all men as people to submit to. Equality is a term that is thrown around and about these...

Misconception #2: the submitter She cowers in the corner, afraid and weary. She is told by others that the Bible says that she must submit to her authority. The problem is, she and her authority don’t understand the real meaning of this “submission” word. That being the case, she is instead treated almost like a servant, being forced to “submit” to every whim from her authority. Most of us hear the word “submission” and feel like running. I’m going to be honest in saying that submission doesn’t sound like much fun. Submitting, whether it’s to your parents, boss, or husband sounds more like servant-hood than anything else. When, we hear of the submissive wife or the submissive daughter, we tend to picture a girl standing quietly, head bowed, and awaiting her next command. She lives only to serve her authority. She is quiet, fearful, and constantly working towards the next task her authority has for her to do. She does not think for herself. She does not voice her opinions...