Beautiful Joy: for you

I am honored to be guest posting today over at the lovely blog of my dear friend, Elizabeth Foss. Elizabeth has been a blessing to me from my earliest days of motherhood. Her tender guidance and gentle wisdom were a balm to my soul during a time of intense transition. I don’t know if I’ve ever properly thanked her for that so, thank you, Elizabeth. And happy birthday!

Over the past couple of years I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting upon and writing about the importance of self-care. Far too often I see good, faithful women neglecting themselves for fear of vanity or self-indulgence–a fear that is understandable given the state of our culture. It seemed to me that what had been lost was an appreciation for the value of putting our best foot forward for the sake of effective Christian witness, for nurturing the sexual-love aspect of our marriages, and for showing our children how much we value our vocation.

For a long time something nagged at me, though. It’s not that I disagreed with what I was advocating for, but a quiet voice suggested that maybe I’d missed something. Maybe the list was not complete.

And, indeed, I had. And it wasn’t.

I’d considered husbands and children and the world at large but I’d forgotten about you. And I’d forgotten about me…

You can read the rest here!