Darlene Brock | The Grit and Grace Project

7 Dating Tips for Successful Relationships

Looking for a man worth your time? Here are a few tips that will help you avoid wasting time on Mr. What-Was-I-Thinking. 1. Make a man list. Every woman has a few non-negotiables. Write them down as your top “not going to settle for less than these” traits. Also add character traits that are important; those that will complement yours. Remember no man will meet all your criteria, but if you don’t know what you’re shopping for then you just might buy the wrong thing. 2. Relax. Dating should be an enjoyable, relationship-building exercise, not a pressure cooker ready to explode. Enjoy getting to know someone, without constantly second-guessing and being filled with insecurity. 3. Don’t lose you. If you have to become someone […]

7 Dating Tips for Successful Relationships Read More »

Divorce Was Not in the Plan

By Darlene Brock / Relationships, Best Of

I have walked alongside two ladies I dearly love as they were suffering the heartbreak of divorce. Their disappointment, disbelief, and pain were palpable in every breath they breathed. I know for them this was never the intention when marriage began. Truly, I don’t believe that anyone making this vow purposely, giving their whole heart as well as their all, believe this commitment will not last forever. The truth is the institution of marriage was designed for “till death do us part.” It was created as a life partnership, sharing every segment of this journey. Only ending when one of the “two shall become one” leaves this world. That is not only the intention of marriage, but it is by far the

Divorce Was Not in the Plan Read More »

Beginning Faith: Walking This Life With Grit, Grace, and God

By Darlene Brock / Best Of, Faith

When I was loading the car to fly my elder daughter off to college, I stopped and made her look me in the eye to tell her this: “Life is hard.” Not sure why that was on my mind except that whether she knew it or not, up until that time in her life she had been fairly, though not entirely, insulated. She had yet to face much of life’s reality that she would be venturing into. I followed that with a statement I knew to be true in my own life: “You have two ways to do this journey called life, with God or without God. I can assure you that without is so very much more difficult.” Of course, she looked at me with

Beginning Faith: Walking This Life With Grit, Grace, and God Read More »

This Is What Jesus Says About Equality for Women

By Darlene Brock / Faith, Best Of

Religion has often been used as an excuse for inequality between men and women. Historically, and even today within many world religions, women find themselves restricted in what they are allowed: their appearance, their behavior, and of course their opportunities. I wish I could say that has never been true within the faith I hold, Christianity. But throughout time, biblical texts have been pulled out and incorrectly used to justify the bad behavior of men and reduce the importance of women. It is in the source of my faith, the Bible, that I look for answers when exploring different positions found in the culture of varying religions. But, when seeking answers to specific questions, it is imperative that we glean from the

This Is What Jesus Says About Equality for Women Read More »

Dear Single Friends: What I See When I Look at You

By Darlene Brock / Relationships

I have watched you, Single Friends. I have seen your days of discouragement, your seasons of loneliness. I have hurt when you hurt and desired for you all that you desire. Your road may be one without a partner, or you may be alone because the one you had left you behind. I have seen you feel so very alone. Then I look past those moments to see how you have lived, how you have loved. How you have filled the voids in life that others of us have no means to fill. You have stayed late to hold another’s grief in your arms when many of us go home. You have guided that niece when her mother is desperate for another

Dear Single Friends: What I See When I Look at You Read More »

Is School Starting or Not? Hope for Stressed Moms

By Darlene Brock / Health & Beauty, Motherhood

I was in Walmart recently as they were filling the shelves with the annual back-to-school supplies. It’s 2020, and a new school year is starting. Or is it? Are they teaching in the classroom, or is the education they offer online? Or, are you faced with the option to choose? If you’re like most parents looking to their school board for guidance, you are still in uncharted and uncertain territory. As in most things, information comes from every side, and what it brings is almost impossible to weed through because it remains contradictory. The American Academy of Pediatrics says kids need to go to school, “the APA strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal

Is School Starting or Not? Hope for Stressed Moms Read More »

How to Find Strength in the Midst of Disappointment

By Darlene Brock / Faith, Best Of

Life is not a straight line. There are side roads, changes, and interruptions that you neither foresee nor anticipate. You may face a job loss, failed relationship, health crisis, or even a virus that strikes and changes everything. When these things happen, we are not just taken out of our comfort zone, but plunged into an unknown, without a plan or direction. I want to say that I always react well; my response is steady, and my faith is strong. But that would be a lie. Sometimes I rise to the occasion, but other times, my humanity is glaringly present. In the seasons when I am disappointed in myself, I wonder if I am disappointing God. Perhaps he is as disheartened in

How to Find Strength in the Midst of Disappointment Read More »

Is Marriage Just a Piece of Paper? Or Is It Something More?

By Darlene Brock / Relationships, Best Of

It appears a lot of women are waiting for their man to propose. They have been a couple for a while, and she finds herself wondering where their relationship is going. Is what they have enough? Their dating relationship, which started as an exhilarating sprint, has turned into a 100K marathon, one where the finish line never appears. Many men today are simply not getting down on that knee (or however you envision it) and asking the all-important question: “Will you marry me?” While I watch the single women around me who are dating and wondering about their future, I know this extends far outside of the world in which I reside. Further evidence comes from this very website, Grit and Grace.

Is Marriage Just a Piece of Paper? Or Is It Something More? Read More »

Is It Time to Break Up With Your Guy? This Is How to Do It

By Darlene Brock / Relationships

Haven’t we all looked for a way out of a bad relationship? Maybe you’re dating that guy who will never really commit or realizing that if he does commit, the thought of “til death do us part” with him makes you break out in a cold sweat. Maybe you’re not ready to sign on to the baggage he carries through your door. So, what’s a girl to do? In all things love, music makes an entrance even in this breakup scenario through the insightful lyrics of Paul Simon: The problem is all inside your head she said to me The answer is easy if you take it logically I’d like to help you in your struggle to be free There must be fifty ways

Is It Time to Break Up With Your Guy? This Is How to Do It Read More »

What You Need to Know About Human Trafficking

By Darlene Brock / Faith, Life & Culture

Recently, the U.S. State Department released its current assessment of human trafficking entitled “2019 Trafficking in Persons Report.” I found the statistics to be horrifying as I glanced through the findings, reminding myself they represent real individuals, lives caught in a world of degradation. According to the accompanying letter from the Secretary of State, “Right now traffickers are robbing a staggering 24.9 million people of their freedom and basic human dignity—that’s roughly three times the population of New York City.” I have to repeat that: three times the population of New York City! Just envision the streets of New York—the bustle of those walking to work, the number of people in every high rise and workplace, and every apartment building and borough

What You Need to Know About Human Trafficking Read More »

TobyMac's Son's Cause of Death Reminds Us That Faith Doesn't Protect Us From Pain

TobyMac’s Son’s Death Reminds Us That Faith Doesn’t Protect Us From Pain

By Darlene Brock / Best Of, Faith

I just read an article that made the cause of TobyMac’s son’s death public. Since his passing I have found myself torn, wondering, “Should the public know or not?” Toby’s career has made his life very public; it’s the nature of the music industry. When I worked with him as his personal manager in the early days, that was the goal. He was supposed to be on the stage sharing his heart and his songs. The way to do it well was to become a recognizable name. When we were young and building the early stages of his music, we didn’t really think life would touch us. At least not in the ways that it has years later. I think we believed

TobyMac’s Son’s Death Reminds Us That Faith Doesn’t Protect Us From Pain Read More »

What I Learned About Grief from My Dad’s Death

Can We Be Grateful for the Tough Stuff?

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

The season of Thanksgiving is a wonderful opportunity to pause from everyday life, reflect, and list the plentiful things for which we are thankful. Many of us can easily fill a piece of paper with items that deserve our gratitude: family, friends, faith, jobs, health, homes, kindness shown every day. I’m capable of getting on a thankful roll, adding a comfortable couch, a clean house, a new hair color, or a great pair of new boots. (In fact, we made an entire podcast episode about funny things women are thankful for… click here to give it a listen.) The reality is that we have much to be grateful for. But living life means going through the tough stuff too. There are seasons when

Can We Be Grateful for the Tough Stuff? Read More »

TobyMac—Heartbreak to Hope, Healing Through Music

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

There is one thing I have begged God not to ask of me, a life heartbreak I have never felt capable of handling: that is to bury a child. The day I laid eyes on my firstborn my love was instantaneous, and I realized that I would do anything in my power to care for, nurture and protect this human God had placed in my life. Losing her was unfathomable to me. When my youngest was born, my emotions were equally as strong. To this day I am truly thankful He has not placed me in that heartbreaking place. Yet someone whom I walked a significant season of life with, Toby McKeehan, and his wife, Amanda, have found themselves facing the very

TobyMac—Heartbreak to Hope, Healing Through Music Read More »

Great Sex—What Is It?

By Darlene Brock / Relationships, Best Of

There seems to be an unending list of articles on the subject of sex, from espousing general attitudes to detailing specific acts. Interesting though many of them are, I believe there is often one missing detail. The basis of great sex is not physical; it is relational. A satisfying sex life is based upon sharing your life and your heart, not just your bed. We have within us a quiet barometer, which, if listened to, will help us sort out truth from theory. There is an inner voice in all of us that speaks sometimes faintly, other times with urgency. It’s a voice we should listen to. When having sex for the first time, that voice will often speak to our fear,

Great Sex—What Is It? Read More »

Are You Worried Your Prodigal Will Never Return?

By Darlene Brock / Faith

Motherhood is complicated, and there are parts of the journey that we are often reticent to share. One of the most agonizing may not be the experience of all moms, but in today’s culture it is of the large majority. This world is busy making truth into lies and lies into the truth which, time and again, leaves a mother watching as her child becomes someone she wishes they weren’t. She is helplessly regimented to the sidelines as they adopt a lifestyle she wishes they wouldn’t. Childhood rebellion comes as early as the toddler tantrum and peaks at the middle school personality shift, often leading to teen rebellion. But the most pronounced may not show itself until choices are made by your college

Are You Worried Your Prodigal Will Never Return? Read More »

This Is What We Think About Sugar Daddies

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture

There are times when things you read make you crazy. At least that is true of me. Today was one of those days. I have a morning routine: pour my first cup of coffee then break open my Bible. After downing that first cup, I get the second one and scan through a few websites with the news of the day. It is mandatory that the first cup of coffee is ingested as well as a bit of God’s Word before I can face current affairs, current thinking, and human struggles. That invaluable second cup gives me the energy to react. Recently an article in Refinery 29 entitled, “Sugar Daddy Site CEO Offers to Pay for Abortions,” caught my attention. The first

This Is What We Think About Sugar Daddies Read More »

7 Ways to Save Money and Sanity When Moving

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money

There is no better time to move than when the kids are on one of their school breaks. Whether it’s Christmas, spring break, or summer vacation, moving trucks are loaded, homes are cleaned out and ready for the next resident, and families are crammed into their cars to occupy their next home. Excited or full of angst, this is a stressful season for all. The physical and emotional task of moving from one home to another is daunting for even the very hardy among us. When you add the costs of a move to the stress this change already creates, even the most stable can be pushed to the point of no return. If you find yourself ready to undertake this task,

7 Ways to Save Money and Sanity When Moving Read More »