Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life

by Jen Hatmaker

In other words, we filmed a fictional rom-com, and we hope you enjoyed our show.

And don’t forget the age-old trick of simply rearranging a room, which will cost you nothing except some grunt work and between two and six arguments with your husband.

We want to earn our goodwill; therefore, we want others to earn theirs. But grace is an inside job first.

People may hate us because of Jesus, but they should never hate Jesus because of us. The way we treat others should lead them to only one conclusion: “If this is how Jesus loves, then I’m in.

Love refuses to deny or dismantle another’s perspective simply because I don’t share it.

But dialogue is an activity of curiosity, cooperation, discovery, and learning rather than persuasion, competition, fear, and conflict. This is love, and it is increasingly rare.

if you wait until you have natural margin to create, you will go to the grave empty-handed.

water your own grass first, because there is no marriage, no union that doesn’t have its share of aggravations and struggles. None, I promise. There is no man or woman immune to selfishness, mediocrity, laziness, or failure. Sure, Other Guy can seem quite shiny in that other yard (as could you at first), but a permanent relocation discloses the truth: grass is pretty much grass.

The best dividend of a happy childhood is healthy adult relationships later.

It is a strange dichotomy, the trying to “enjoy every moment” while sometimes locking yourself in the bathroom with old Halloween candy and pretending you can’t hear them.

We permanently opened the yes valve on teen shenanigans that hover north of dumb but south of harmful.