Days Twelve & Thirteen: Rock Bottom…& Rising From It

Day 12: In Chapter Nine of You Are Enough, I hit “rock bottom.” Talk about your own rock bottom moment, and how you found the strength and the courage to rise.
Day 13: In Chapter Ten, I talk about how sometimes survival is about whatever gets you through the day. Share what has “gotten you through the day” or held you together during tough times: faith, family, friends, alcohol, food, TV shows…whatever your glue is, don’t be afraid » Read More

Day Ten: Getting Real About Depression

Day 10: In Chapter Seven of You Are Enough, I talk about my experience with spiraling into clinical depression. Talk about your own experiences with depression, anxiety, or any other mental health struggle. If you haven’t been affected personally, share your insights into how you stay mentally healthy.

You never know what the final straw is going to be that pushes you from teetering on the edge of depression to full-blown depression. I battled clinical depression in » Read More

The “You Are Enough” 30-Day Blogging Challenge!

I did “The Single Woman’s 30-Day Blogging Challenge” a few years ago and it was a big hit, so I wanted to do another one in conjunction with my new book, You Are Enough. Except this time around, we’re not focused on our singleness, but on our “enough-ness.” Our sense of worth. Our ability to love and accept ourselves, just as we are. The goal by the end of the thirty days would be for » Read More

Turn Toward the Sun

Ironically, as I was putting the finishing touches on my new book, You Are Enough: Heartbreak, Healing, and Becoming Whole several months ago…I went through one of the most significant heartbreaks of my life. A story I’ll save for another day. Right now I want to tell you about how I got to the other side of that heartbreak. Because today, almost a year later, I’m not the same woman I was when I met » Read More

2015 Was a Hard Year

It’s been a hard year.

2015 has been a hard year.

I’ve hesitated to write about it in-depth up til this point because I don’t think I was ready to see it all in words, on a piece of paper. I didn’t want to seem negative or whiny or discouraging. I didn’t want to be that vulnerable. 2015 was the year I became less vulnerable, and I hate it. I’m more guarded now…less open, less trusting. And » Read More

Dash of Sass: Stop Forcing. Stop Chasing. (Seriously, STOP.)

There’s something I’m super frustrated with lately, observing myself and my friends and reading emails from ladies who write to me for advice…and that is this idea that women seem to have that we need to work our toenails off to make a relationship happen with a man. That we have to “put ourselves in the way” of these men, otherwise they won’t remember us. That WE have to go out of our way to » Read More

I Told You I Was Strong & Independent. I Lied.

It hit me yesterday that I talk regularly about how strong and independent I am as a single (and fabulous) woman…

…and yet, it’s all a big, gigantic LIE.

The message in church yesterday was about singleness and how our contentment can only be found in God, not in the safety of marriage or the independence of single life (Thank you, Pastor Trevor Atwood, for BRINGING IT). And as I sat there and listened and let the » Read More

Dash of Sass: It’s Okay Not To Be Okay

Who can relate to the struggle to show yourself grace and the tendency to beat yourself up for having a bad day or an off moment? After coming out on the other side of a very challenging few months, I am finally able to see the greater purpose of seasons of struggle: Nothing makes a person more sensitive and compassionate and forgiving of the plight of others than actually stepping into that person’s experience. I » Read More

Where Is God In All of This?

I received this email from a precious lady the other day, and though I receive a lot of emails and don’t get to respond personally to most, I felt compelled to respond to this one. When you read it, I think you’ll see why.

After sending her my response, I knew I had to share this question and answer here on my blog, even though it means making myself far more vulnerable than I might feel » Read More

Something wonderful is on the horizon
Life doesn’t always look the way we want it to look. In Mandy’s upcoming book, Turn Toward the Sun: Releasing What If and Embracing What Is, you’ll find encouragement to live in the moment, sit with your experiences, and trust God with the unknown.
Preorder from Baker Book House for 40% off and free shipping!*
*US shipping only
Something wonderful is on the horizon
Turn Toward the Sun CoverLife doesn’t always look the way we want it to look. In Mandy’s upcoming book, Turn Toward the Sun: Releasing What If and Embracing What Is, you’ll find encouragement to live in the moment, sit with your experiences, and trust God with the unknown.
Preorder from Baker Book House for 40% off and free shipping!*
*US shipping only