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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20223 min read
Toastmasters Did This to Me!
So, by now, you’re probably wondering about the blog marathon I’ve been on. I feel like the “Mad Hatter”, only I’m the Mad Blogger. Not...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20226 min read
Call Me Crazy, But Don't Call Me a Survivor
If you’ve ever been sexually abused, you may find yourself struggling with the long-term and crippling effects of it. It took me years to...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20227 min read
The Art of Trash
At an early age, I'd been seared by the hot iron of Rejection, and no matter how many times I put my thoughts through the spin cycle, the...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20227 min read
The Art of Brokenness
When I was five, Mother pointed to a tiny cluster of stars, and said, “There’s the Little Dipper.” She shifted her finger slightly, and...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20226 min read
The Art of Going
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then do that. Because what the world needs is people who have...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20229 min read
Women Keep Silent!
I Timothy 2:11-15 & I Corinthians 14:34-35“What just happened?” These were the words a man asked my husband one Sunday after I preached....
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20224 min read
When God Sits Shiva
When I was in the eleventh grade, I was elected by the history department to represent Lawrence high school at Dirigo Girls State. A...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20223 min read
The World's Worst Mother
Drum roll please… The World's Worst Mother award goes to Francine Westgate!" Let me first begin by rewinding a tad. Last night, Ethan, my...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20228 min read
God's Not Mad at Me
God's Not Mad at Me: things I've learned about sex, God, shame, and church. In the book Grace Eventually, Anne Lamott writes, “Grace...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 202210 min read
Crazy, Stupid, Shame: 3 Things I've Learned to Reverse the Effects of Shame
Last week, after posting the blog God’s Not Mad at Me, I received an email from a Conqueror. The email was deeply moving and courageously...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20228 min read
Fear, Fear, Go Away: living with torment, pain, and dread
Fear incarcerates, restrains, overpowers, and paralyzes the mind. It works its way into the human spirit and replaces freedom, joy, and...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20227 min read
Sex: 8 Lessons to make a Marriage Work
There’s a guy across the way. I sip my coffee with quiet poise, and watch him. He has his phone in his hand, his heads down, and his...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20228 min read
Go Into The Light
What if God isn’t impressed with Honk if You Love Jesus bumper stickers, or Christian T-Shirts, or necklaces with big shiny crosses, or...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20225 min read
Faith Like Oreos
“Faith is stepping out into the unknown with nothing to guide us but a hand just beyond our grasp” – Frederick Buechner. When I was...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20228 min read
I Hate You!
This is my eighth-grade year book picture…after I scribbled me out. There was a time when I hated everything about myself. In 1987, “I...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20228 min read
From Piss-pots to Praise
When I was a child, I dreamed of living in a mansion with marble pillars, large terraces, and spiral staircases, but I would have settled...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20227 min read
Fifty Shades of Stupid
Have you ever felt anxious when asked a question? You know, the kind of anxious that puts a knot in your stomach and a lump in your...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20225 min read
Happy Mother's Day!
She wasn't the perfect mother, and I wasn't the perfect daughter, but our negatives balanced each other out. Growing up, we were very...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20223 min read
You're That Girl!
A few months back, I tapped my fingers and stared at the dark clouds through the window. At 5:00 P.M., I descended the staircase with my...
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Francine Westgate
Nov 14, 20223 min read
Holy Shard
The story is told of a boy who heard the circus was coming to town and wanted to go, whose father couldn’t afford the tickets. So, as a...
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