#766. Trying to explain to men why you love Beth Moore so much.

(This is the very first guest post from my wife, Jenny. Who is hott and funny and wicked smart. Please know it was hard for me not to introduce her by quoting Ludacris and simply saying, “My chick bad.” Without further ado.)

Jon and I only really have two types of arguments in our house.

The first concerns certain subjects he refuses to learn about. Folding and hanging pants for instance. He refuses to put that information in his head. Many, many times I have tried to teach him how to follow a crease. I have given him several, well thought out points about how much I hate ironing and that if he would just hang his pants up the right way instead of crumpling them on our closet floor I would not need to iron them. But he won’t learn. And he won’t because then he can claim, “Oh, I would do that, but I don’t know how.” That’s our first type of argument.

The second type is about things and people I love that he simply doesn’t understand. Like knitting. Or Etsy.com or sandals with an arch in them. Or perhaps above all, Beth Moore. He doesn’t understand my deep, undying affection for that woman. We sit outside in our Adirondack chairs at night while the sun goes down and I try to make him see what is so awesome about her, but he still remains fairly clueless. So today, I thought it might be good to explain to him and men the world over, why we ladies love Beth Moore:

1. She feels like family.

There are other Christian authors who are good. They write well and teach well, but they don’t feel like family. They feel like teachers or experts. Beth Moore feels like my older sister or relative from Texas. She feels warm and compassionate in a way so many other Christian authors don’t. She’s like my mama.

2. I can’t prove this, but I’m pretty sure Beth Moore loves me.

She does, she really does. Beth Moore loves me. If you’re a girl and you’ve read one of her studies, you can’t help but feel like she really does care about you. Especially when she calls you “dear one.”

3. She’s honest about her past.

Sometimes I feel like Christian authors act like they were holy in utero. As if they never sinned and were perhaps speaking Hebrew even as a zygote. Not Beth, she’s honest about her past. She doesn’t dwell on it or let it shape her future, but she’s real and I really like that.

4. Her stuff is good.

Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I want my Bible study to be lavender scented and read a little like a Lifetime movie. I think part of the reason we love Beth is because her studies are well written and challenging in a great way.

5. She’s handled the fame well.

One time Jon got a little cocky when a college student came early to his first book signing. That is until she said, “My mom loves your stuff” and then promptly left after getting an autograph, skipping the book reading he did all together. Beth Moore is like the Pope for girls, but I don’t get the sense that she has a plane made of solid gold or has let it all go to her head.

6. She was incredibly kind to me at the Catalyst Conference.

This one hasn’t happened yet, but it needs to, it really needs to. For the first time ever, Beth Moore is speaking at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. I don’t know Brad Lomenick the director, but he really needs to focus on me meeting Beth Moore. I don’t want to be a groupie, but I will probably steal Jon’s backstage pass since he’s speaking there too and hide out in the green room all day. Let’s make this happen Beth! (My friend Katie is already praying about what she wants me to tell Beth. The conference is in October. It’s May.)

Jon tells me I shouldn’t end a list with 6 items since this is a Christian blog, but since I’m dictating this to him, technically it’s him ending it this way, not me.

Ladies, what do you love about Beth Moore?

(For more great stuff from Jenny Acuff, tell her she should blog more!)