Erin, thank you so much for this! I'm on the fun journey of wanting to be affirming but sorting through all the information and learning and reading and praying around that, so this is very helpful. I just finished reading Inspired and it was a profound experience. I don't think I'll ever think about the Bible the same again.
Also, I can't decide if I'm a lizard boi or a doggo, so I think that probably means lizard boi. I'm a great driver, just don't ask me to turn right into a parking spot.
Doggo! Now I need a golden retriever! But seriously, I appreciate your perspective on affirming our LBGTQ+ brothers and sisters. I am saving this email to reread often!
Y'all. I went to a MOVIE in an actual THEATER for the first time in over a year. Movies around here are pretty cheap and I have a weekday off, so I used to go a couple of times a month. It's one of the things I've missed most about These Challenging Times, and I am very excited to spend the summer at the movies as God intended.
I am going to my first baby birthday party tomorrow. It feels like some kind of bizarre milestone. I am extremely fond of her parents, otherwise I would be real weirded out by the whole thing.
Has anyone considered that the reason female country singers sing these songs is because male county singers sing those songs? These things are definitely related! I recommend You're Wrong About at all times, but specifically the recent episode about the cancellation of the Chicks, specifically to hear Sarah working very hard to restrain herself from singing Goodbye Earl in its entirety.
I guess moth is the closest, but none of those really fit. This completely tracks for someone who took two Enneagram tests and promptly forgot the results both times (yes, I now know this is not how you're supposed to do it, no, I will not be buying anyone's recommendation of Enneagram book).
Hi friends, trying to decide if I’m a platypus or birb. Enneagram 7 who was mistyped as a 2 for a looooooooong time thanks to a Christian culture where every woman was a 2 and I was like oh that’s the good one to be. What can I say….
Love the response to the question, Erin! As a queer Christian who’s spent the last year figuring out what the heck I believe and how my faith interacts with my sexuality, I’m so grateful for your support in navigating all of the things. One of my favorite definitions of faith that I’ve heard is “trusting all you know of yourself to all you know of God,” and I’m really loving that. As I learn more about myself and more about God, I want to have the courage to trust it all to Jesus, the Liberating King.
Treasures:
- I currently work in public health in Kansas and we’ve had 0 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 for the past week! 🎉
- Took a spontaneous 10-hour round trip to Denver to pick up furniture from a thrift store.
- I move at the end of the month to Indianapolis to begin grad school in August and I put in my notice at work and all the pieces are coming together!!
Turds:
- fired my therapist. Eh….not the most fun thing to do, but necessary. Hoping to find someone at IUPUI.
- sprained my right ankle when I was overcompensating on it bc I broke my left ankle. Can someone find me new ankles on the black market? Cool, thanks.
Hey Swipes! Lizard Boi 4 Lyfe, unfortunately. I’ve been popping in & out of the comments all day and now I finally get a chance to sit down & write one.
Turds: my SIL is having major, major issues with my MIL - I personally feel like SIL is wanting to cut my MIL out of her & her kids’ lives. To top it off, my SIL just announced her pregnancy on FB today. Fortunately my MIL knew about it but I don’t think my SIL wanted to tell her ahead of publicly announcing it. It’s a giant cluster, to put it mildly. Both are guilty of holding grudges and not acting like grown-ass women. I don’t know how this will resolve, but my husband and I are caught in the middle and it sucks.
Birb with a size of lizard here. It's likely no coincidence that I hate birds... like, a LOT. What's up, self-loathing?
Treasure-y things this week: having my first in-person reunion with my college best friends in more than 18 months, since we're all vaxxed and relaxed and ready to party. And finally realizing my overall "blah" mood since January may be more than just "blah" and using that Popcast Betterhelp promo code. Dr. Vivian is now waiting to help me, and I just hope she's got a strong constitution. :)
Not-so-treasure-y thing: realizing that I've got LOTS of deconstructing/reconstructing to do around my faith. And trying really hard not to be mad at God about it. He didn't teach me any of these things, or construct these oppressive systems - but they happened on His watch. It's hard for me not to hold Him responsible for it. Very grateful to find a new church home last summer full of amazing, supportive, progressive people and a pastor who is willing to host me on her front porch (yep, HER porch! :)) for sushi and cocktails and hard conversations. And grateful for the Lil Swipes who provide such amazing perspectives, support and commentary here.
This was such a great read! Erin, thank you for letting us into that brilliant brain of yours for a bit with your journey to affirming. And cautioning us that the answer is not in a book, podcast or article but in our own relationship with God. ❤️ I especially needed that!
Related to the new Enneagram method, I’m a birb. 100%.
A few treasures for me (then my husband and I are hitting up the neighborhood pool while the kids are in school/daycare and we do not at all feel bad!)
- I’m getting better at painting my nails with the Olive & June system! Rocking “Yes Please” today.
- I finally started seeing a therapist (virtually through Faithful Counseling) and it is just so dang wonderful. Like - the sky is bluer, birds are chirping, my whole outlook just feels different!
One turd:
- I had to have a blood draw for labs at my physical Tuesday and I am the WORST STICK. They can never find my veins and end up blowing them (this bruise is particularly bad). What can I do to make my veins better?!? Drink more water?
I want to be a Pangolin, but I think I'm closer to a Platypus or a Birb.
Erin, thank you so much for talking about your journey with being an affirming believer. There are many things I have struggled with (read: disagreed with internally and never said anything) in the types of churches I grew up in and this is the one that has been the hardest. I've always felt incredibly convicted, but not smart enough to prove that I was right. Which led to a double life where I was a vocal advocate and had many LGBTQ+ friends outside of church and silence within it. Which is it's own kind of sin that I've done against people who I love, and have had to apologize for.
Lil (Big)Treasure: I qualified for an apartment all by myself like a big girl adult and OMG I cried!!! I've had a very very challenging financial past and have had a sub 400 credit score for a long time. I worked really hard over the last 2 years and it's really nice to know that hard work paid off. I move in August and I'm so excited to have my own teeny tiny 450 sqft studio.
Lil Turd (but I'm laughing about it): Someone called the coffee shop I work at to attempt to order over the phone, (we don't do this for many reasons but mostly because we are just too busy to be able to take someone away from serving the customers who are in line in the shop) They were very politely told that we do curbside or pickup on our website so could they please order through that. They responded to the barista "Ugh I'll just go somewhere else. F&%# you." and my sweet sweet barista, stunned, just said "Ok, bye, have a nice day." and burst into uncontrollable laughter. You can't help but laugh at someone dropping an F bomb because they aren't able to order their coffee in the manner they'd prefer. I've been laughing about it all day tbh. Just a PSA from your friendly neighborhood coffee shop manager: The panoramic has been hard, and everyone's entitlement is showing just a bit more. Please make sure to be extra nice and understanding, especially when mistakes are made. We are doing our best!
Off to fill out the community info sheet!!!! I want to hang out please!
100% Doggo - currently baking a cake (Claire Saffitz's Almond Poppyseed Cake)and listening to podcasts
Thanks for this write up Erin. My best friend came out as a lesbian last summer and is in the process of getting divorced from her husband as a result. It has been so challenging to know how to love her well throughout this season of major life change and rediscovery, especially in light of covid. This is was such a good reminder that God is calling us to be faithful to Him and to love those around us - regardless of whatever the world may tell us, inviting in and loving well always displays Jesus.
This weeks treasure - our New England heat spell of 90 degree days, which we are not equipped for, is over and the weather is back to sunny with a high of 75 (shout out to Reliant K)
We have teens over for a small group every week and only 2 girls came this week but man was it a blessing. To sit and eat dinner with them and talk about life and friends and challenges was such a blessing.
Unfortunately I went to a funeral today for the mom of a childhood friend. To hug their family close and remember her life and how special those friendships are was incredibly heavy but it was a blessing to live close enough to be able to be there for them today.
Wish I was a moth, but probably a lizard boi. Oh well.
Erin, thank you so much for this! I'm on the fun journey of wanting to be affirming but sorting through all the information and learning and reading and praying around that, so this is very helpful. I just finished reading Inspired and it was a profound experience. I don't think I'll ever think about the Bible the same again.
Also, I can't decide if I'm a lizard boi or a doggo, so I think that probably means lizard boi. I'm a great driver, just don't ask me to turn right into a parking spot.
Doggo. Def a doggo.
Does anyone know which episode(s) of The Bible Binge talk about being affirming?
Doggo! Now I need a golden retriever! But seriously, I appreciate your perspective on affirming our LBGTQ+ brothers and sisters. I am saving this email to reread often!
Obvs Platypus here. But also requesting that “Killing Me Softly” be added to that playlist, STAT. 💕
Y'all. I went to a MOVIE in an actual THEATER for the first time in over a year. Movies around here are pretty cheap and I have a weekday off, so I used to go a couple of times a month. It's one of the things I've missed most about These Challenging Times, and I am very excited to spend the summer at the movies as God intended.
I am going to my first baby birthday party tomorrow. It feels like some kind of bizarre milestone. I am extremely fond of her parents, otherwise I would be real weirded out by the whole thing.
Has anyone considered that the reason female country singers sing these songs is because male county singers sing those songs? These things are definitely related! I recommend You're Wrong About at all times, but specifically the recent episode about the cancellation of the Chicks, specifically to hear Sarah working very hard to restrain herself from singing Goodbye Earl in its entirety.
I guess moth is the closest, but none of those really fit. This completely tracks for someone who took two Enneagram tests and promptly forgot the results both times (yes, I now know this is not how you're supposed to do it, no, I will not be buying anyone's recommendation of Enneagram book).
Pangolin. Although not really a big hugger. K’bye. ☺️
Hi friends, trying to decide if I’m a platypus or birb. Enneagram 7 who was mistyped as a 2 for a looooooooong time thanks to a Christian culture where every woman was a 2 and I was like oh that’s the good one to be. What can I say….
Love the response to the question, Erin! As a queer Christian who’s spent the last year figuring out what the heck I believe and how my faith interacts with my sexuality, I’m so grateful for your support in navigating all of the things. One of my favorite definitions of faith that I’ve heard is “trusting all you know of yourself to all you know of God,” and I’m really loving that. As I learn more about myself and more about God, I want to have the courage to trust it all to Jesus, the Liberating King.
Treasures:
- I currently work in public health in Kansas and we’ve had 0 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 for the past week! 🎉
- Took a spontaneous 10-hour round trip to Denver to pick up furniture from a thrift store.
- I move at the end of the month to Indianapolis to begin grad school in August and I put in my notice at work and all the pieces are coming together!!
Turds:
- fired my therapist. Eh….not the most fun thing to do, but necessary. Hoping to find someone at IUPUI.
- sprained my right ankle when I was overcompensating on it bc I broke my left ankle. Can someone find me new ankles on the black market? Cool, thanks.
I’m definitely a toss-up between Moth and Lizard Boi. Addicted to coffee and always tired. Simultaneously. Multitudes. I contain them.
Lizard Boi with a Platypus wing over here!
Hey Swipes! Lizard Boi 4 Lyfe, unfortunately. I’ve been popping in & out of the comments all day and now I finally get a chance to sit down & write one.
Turds: my SIL is having major, major issues with my MIL - I personally feel like SIL is wanting to cut my MIL out of her & her kids’ lives. To top it off, my SIL just announced her pregnancy on FB today. Fortunately my MIL knew about it but I don’t think my SIL wanted to tell her ahead of publicly announcing it. It’s a giant cluster, to put it mildly. Both are guilty of holding grudges and not acting like grown-ass women. I don’t know how this will resolve, but my husband and I are caught in the middle and it sucks.
Also my dryer is broken.
Treasures: a strawberry huller/corer. My kids eat their weights in strawberries, so this is super fast & easy. I got mine from Aldi but you can get them almost anywhere. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XOHZWC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_3JZ1Q22TY78K08D11TAD
-inflatable pool that I can sit down in. Bliss.
-dinner & a movie with my friend tonight! We’re going to Panera and seeing In The Heights and I AM SO PUMPED
Hope you’re all surviving the beginning of summer and these heatwaves (it’ll be 90 tomorrow in IN which is bonkers for June
Birb with a size of lizard here. It's likely no coincidence that I hate birds... like, a LOT. What's up, self-loathing?
Treasure-y things this week: having my first in-person reunion with my college best friends in more than 18 months, since we're all vaxxed and relaxed and ready to party. And finally realizing my overall "blah" mood since January may be more than just "blah" and using that Popcast Betterhelp promo code. Dr. Vivian is now waiting to help me, and I just hope she's got a strong constitution. :)
Not-so-treasure-y thing: realizing that I've got LOTS of deconstructing/reconstructing to do around my faith. And trying really hard not to be mad at God about it. He didn't teach me any of these things, or construct these oppressive systems - but they happened on His watch. It's hard for me not to hold Him responsible for it. Very grateful to find a new church home last summer full of amazing, supportive, progressive people and a pastor who is willing to host me on her front porch (yep, HER porch! :)) for sushi and cocktails and hard conversations. And grateful for the Lil Swipes who provide such amazing perspectives, support and commentary here.
This was such a great read! Erin, thank you for letting us into that brilliant brain of yours for a bit with your journey to affirming. And cautioning us that the answer is not in a book, podcast or article but in our own relationship with God. ❤️ I especially needed that!
Related to the new Enneagram method, I’m a birb. 100%.
A few treasures for me (then my husband and I are hitting up the neighborhood pool while the kids are in school/daycare and we do not at all feel bad!)
- I’m getting better at painting my nails with the Olive & June system! Rocking “Yes Please” today.
- I finally started seeing a therapist (virtually through Faithful Counseling) and it is just so dang wonderful. Like - the sky is bluer, birds are chirping, my whole outlook just feels different!
One turd:
- I had to have a blood draw for labs at my physical Tuesday and I am the WORST STICK. They can never find my veins and end up blowing them (this bruise is particularly bad). What can I do to make my veins better?!? Drink more water?
Happy weekend, Swipes!
I want to be a Pangolin, but I think I'm closer to a Platypus or a Birb.
Erin, thank you so much for talking about your journey with being an affirming believer. There are many things I have struggled with (read: disagreed with internally and never said anything) in the types of churches I grew up in and this is the one that has been the hardest. I've always felt incredibly convicted, but not smart enough to prove that I was right. Which led to a double life where I was a vocal advocate and had many LGBTQ+ friends outside of church and silence within it. Which is it's own kind of sin that I've done against people who I love, and have had to apologize for.
Lil (Big)Treasure: I qualified for an apartment all by myself like a big girl adult and OMG I cried!!! I've had a very very challenging financial past and have had a sub 400 credit score for a long time. I worked really hard over the last 2 years and it's really nice to know that hard work paid off. I move in August and I'm so excited to have my own teeny tiny 450 sqft studio.
Lil Turd (but I'm laughing about it): Someone called the coffee shop I work at to attempt to order over the phone, (we don't do this for many reasons but mostly because we are just too busy to be able to take someone away from serving the customers who are in line in the shop) They were very politely told that we do curbside or pickup on our website so could they please order through that. They responded to the barista "Ugh I'll just go somewhere else. F&%# you." and my sweet sweet barista, stunned, just said "Ok, bye, have a nice day." and burst into uncontrollable laughter. You can't help but laugh at someone dropping an F bomb because they aren't able to order their coffee in the manner they'd prefer. I've been laughing about it all day tbh. Just a PSA from your friendly neighborhood coffee shop manager: The panoramic has been hard, and everyone's entitlement is showing just a bit more. Please make sure to be extra nice and understanding, especially when mistakes are made. We are doing our best!
Off to fill out the community info sheet!!!! I want to hang out please!
100% Doggo - currently baking a cake (Claire Saffitz's Almond Poppyseed Cake)and listening to podcasts
Thanks for this write up Erin. My best friend came out as a lesbian last summer and is in the process of getting divorced from her husband as a result. It has been so challenging to know how to love her well throughout this season of major life change and rediscovery, especially in light of covid. This is was such a good reminder that God is calling us to be faithful to Him and to love those around us - regardless of whatever the world may tell us, inviting in and loving well always displays Jesus.
This weeks treasure - our New England heat spell of 90 degree days, which we are not equipped for, is over and the weather is back to sunny with a high of 75 (shout out to Reliant K)
We have teens over for a small group every week and only 2 girls came this week but man was it a blessing. To sit and eat dinner with them and talk about life and friends and challenges was such a blessing.
Unfortunately I went to a funeral today for the mom of a childhood friend. To hug their family close and remember her life and how special those friendships are was incredibly heavy but it was a blessing to live close enough to be able to be there for them today.
Enjoy the week!