Leya Delray's Blog

Is it Biblical to say God “Hated” Baby Esau?

“Doesn’t the Bible say God loved Jacob and hated Esau before they were born?”

This question was put to me me recently during a friendly theological debate around the dinner table.

In this particular conversation, we were discussing whether unborn babies go to heaven when they die. But it’s a verse that is also brought up a lot in debates about salvation/election in general, particularly in the Calvinist-leaning circles I tend to run in. If you’ve never heard it talked about before...

Protected: Visiting the Fatherless

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‘Mother’ is NOT Spelled M-a-r-t-y-r

“I’m a mother, not a martyr.”

That’s what I found myself thinking as I sat in church on Mother’s Day, listening to the usual ‘mother appreciation’ homily.

This was a special Mother’s Day for me. It was the first time my “Happy Mother’s Day!” greetings to my mom friends were answered with “Happy Mother’s Day!” right back. And it took a little getting used to, to be honest My husband was the first to startle me by saying it. When we got in the car to go to church, he looked at me wit...

Midnight Manifesto – (a letter to my baby)

Being a first-time foster mom (of a newborn), has been quite the experience this past month or so. And I have to say the constantly interrupted sleep is the hardest part. I wrote this manifesto in the wee hours of the morning after an especially rough night. Part of me wants to go back and do a bunch of editing to make it more polished. But I’ve decided to give you the (mostly) raw version, as it came tumbling out in the twilight of early morning. Because I think it captures well the mixture of ...

The Two Best Decluttering Hacks You’ve Never Heard Of

Last month, I wrote about how decluttering your physical and visual spaces can help with mental clarity and creativity.

But I’m well aware that sometimes decluttering is just plain hard. Personally, I’ve read a LOT of books and listened to a LOT of people sharing their personal hacks, systems, and philosophies aimed at streamlining the process, and I’d say most of these systems/philosophies really boil down to two basic ideas:

a) Keep only the things that you really love (or as Marie...

How to Get More ‘White Space’ in Your Life (and why it matters)

Am I the only person who feels like I’ve been living at 90-miles-an-hour lately?

Between managing my author business (marketing, social media, etc), social engagements, working on getting approved for foster care, travel, keeping the house tidy, taking on costume commissions, maintaining a veggie/herb garden, trying to write a new book, and all the other little things that are part of daily life (like cooking and laundry), I’ve lately felt like I was being pulled in 3 different directions at ...

Is it Biblical to… “Forgive Yourself”?

My phone buzzed, and I glanced down at a text message that read, “Would like to get your take on this”.

Opening the message, I found myself looking at a screenshot of a social media post that is making the rounds in Christian circles. I read it through twice, thought for a second, and then texted back “It really all depends on how you define the terms”. Of course I would say that, wouldn’t I? Always ready to be the resident word nerd here.

This is the post she sent me:

Now th...

Gentle Voice – A Poem

The more I get to know the Savior, the more amazed I am by how incredibly gentle He is with me. Far gentler than I am with myself, that’s for sure!

Sometimes I forget, when listening to the screaming of my own perfectionism, that God’s voice doesn’t sound like that at all. He loves me even when I fall short. That’s kind of the whole point of the gospel, right? “While we were yet sinners.”

And yes, He still wants to me to change and grow and repent and mature. But not because He’s a f...

Advent: A Jesus Who Breaks My Paradigms

Do you ever forget Jesus was radical?

I do.

Of course, I don’t mean he was radical in the sense of throwing pipe bombs or agitating for anarchy. Jesus was a radical in an entirely different way. A peaceful way. And yet, he was still such a threat to the established social order that the people in power wanted Him dead.

Somehow, I think we forget that. Or at least I do. It’s easy for me to get cozy in my American brand of Christianity and think what Jesus expects of me is actually pret...

(Part 2) Is it Biblical to Call Deborah Plan B?

Welcome to Part 2!

I’m glad to have you along as I continue examining what the scripture really says about Deborah.

In Part 1, we discussed the common view that Deborah was simply a back-up plan God used because there were no godly male leaders available.

We examined the account of Deborah, as well as it’s context within the rest of Judges, and found that it gave us no real data to support this claim. We then moved on to look at other scriptural arguments that are used to “prove” Debo...