Happy Monday! Today I am so very excited about the interview I have for you to read. If you're familiar with Girl Defined Ministries, then you may be aware that Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird (authors of Girl Defined) released their second book, Love Defined on May 1st! If you haven't heard about Love Defined yet, then you're in for a treat. Kristen and Bethany have so graciously agreed to chat with me and share their heart on my blog here today. They discussed their new book and it's an honor to glean from the wisdom and insight they share here. Ready to listen in? Bella: Thank you so much for joining me today, Bethany and Kristen! I am so excited about your brand new book, Love Defined. Can you just start off by sharing a little bit about who you are and how you started your ministry, Girl Defined? Bethany and Kristen: We would love to share a little bit about ourselves. We are sisters, best friends, both live in Texas, and are really tall (6’1 to be exact). The two of us are only a year and nine months apart in age, which means we’ve pretty much been best friends since the day we were born. As the two of us grew older in age, and began learning more and more about God’s incredible design for femininity, we slowly developed a passion for sharing that message. Back in 2014, we had the amazing opportunity to launch, Girl Defined Ministries. God has been so amazing to us over the past four years and we seriously anticipate all that He will do through this ministry in the future. Bella: In your first book, Girl Defined, you talked all about God’s design for womanhood. Why do you believe it is important for young women to understand their identity in Christ? And how do you believe that spills over into their views of love and marriage? Bethany and Kristen: Sadly, God’s design for womanhood has been trampled on and almost completely rejected. Most women in our modern day do not esteem God’s Word or His design for their lives. Instead, many women look to famous feminist leaders and celebrity influencers for direction on how they should live and think. The two of us have seen what happens when we ignore God’s design for our lives and it’s not pretty. In a culture filled with eating disorders, depression, sexual addictions, and relational brokenness, we need truth-filled answers that lead towards lasting peace and satisfaction. The only way to find that hope, is to look to the Creator Himself. Instead of leaving God in the dust, we need to turn to Him for guidance. The more we, as women, define our worth and identity according to God’s beautiful design, the more joy-filled and satisfied we will become. The two of us wrote Girl Defined: God’s Radical Design for Beauty, Femininity, and Identity to help modern women understand how to live out biblical womanhood in our modern day. If we, as women, don’t understand where our worth comes from, we will often look to guys to give us that worth. That is a recipe for disaster though. Nobody in the world (outside of God) can give us lasting satisfaction. Instead of looking to a relationship to give us purpose and identity, we need to look to Christ. Our brand-new book, Love Defined: Embracing God’s Vision for Lasting love and Satisfying Relationships, unpacks God’s design for true love and shows women how to find ultimate hope and satisfaction. Bella: Love Defined, your brand new book, is all about God’s purpose and design for love and relationships. What inspired you or motivated you to begin the process of writing this book? And why do you believe it is a message that young women so desperately need to hear? Bethany and Kristen: The two of us grew up like any normal girl. We watched the fairy tales and we read the princess books. We took note of what we saw. Perfect love stories were built on strong feelings and intense chemistry. As we grew older, and each experienced our first real breakups, we soon realized how false Hollywood’s representation of love truly is. Love isn’t based on feelings alone, but on true agape love. A love that is self-sacrificing and committed no matter what. As we entered our adult years, we soon realized that most modern women were not thriving in their romantic relationships. Many of them were feeling lost, confused, and in need of serious direction. When the two of us were offered a contract for our second book (which is now Love Defined), it didn’t take long to decide on the topic of love and romance. If we, as modern women, don’t understand God’s bigger purpose for romance, we will continue to struggle down the same miserable path. We will continue to experience relational brokenness and we will never live out what God originally intended. Our hope is that Love Defined will inspire women to strive towards something more magnificent and Christ-centered. Bella: Now, I know Kristen, you are married, and Bethany, you’re currently in a relationship. But for both of you, during your years of singleness, what were some spiritual disciplines that you kept to draw closer to Christ and keep your focus on Him? Bethany and Kristen: Yes! I (Kristen) have been married for almost seven years. I got married when I was 24 and Zack was 23. I (Bethany) am 29 and have been single up until this point. I am in a very serious relationship with my boyfriend, David and I’m extremely excited about the future. Looking back though, the two of us clearly remember the days of singleness. Those years can often feel lonely, sad, and depressing for many single women. Unless we intentionally choose to trust God and live for Him, we will often feel very discontent. First and foremost, the two of us believe that an intentional relationship with Jesus will make it or break it for single women. Learning to fill your affections with Christ and His love, is crucial. That must be the focus and number one priority. Secondly, the two of us were extremely intentional with ministering to others and serving in our church. Getting our eyes off of our needs, our loneliness, and our wants, and onto others, was huge! Having the opportunity to serve in our churches was extremely helpful! Bella: Do you have any advice for girls who may be struggling with a crush and they don’t know how to handle it? Bethany and Kristen: The two of us totally get how confusing feelings can be. We’ve had our fair share of crushes and it’s often hard to know what to do with those feelings. It’s so important to remember that God designed us with feelings and He designed us to find guys attractive. That was all His idea. So, what do we do? When we find someone attractive or exciting, what do we do with those feelings? The two of us would encourage any young women to do a few things. 1. Seek advice from an older wiser woman. Whether it’s an older girl in your church, or your mom, find someone who can give you good advice on the specific situation. 2. Learn and grow in your understanding of God’s design for love. Understanding the bigger picture for love and romance can be extremely helpful during the teen and single years. Love Defined would be a great place to start. 3. Pick a Bible verse and memorize it. Psalm 51:10 would be a great place to start. The next time you are struggling with your thoughts or feelings towards a guy, begin quoting Scripture to yourself. That has been super helpful for us. Bella: I love ending interviews with a fun question, so if you could invent any ice cream flavor in the world, what would it be? Bethany and Kristen: Ohhhhh what a fun question!! Hmmm I (Bethany) would totally go with Gold Glitter Ice cream. I love sparkles and glitter and can only imagine how yummy that would taste. I (Kristen) love the idea of glow-in-the-dark ice cream. I’m thinking glow-in-the-dark ice cream that tastes like cotton candy. Pretty much a winner ;) My Thoughts on the Book...Love Defined is a breath of fresh air for women desiring to do love and romance God's way. Hollywood and media constantly bombard us in today's world with their false ideas of love, romance, and boys. When we're constantly being told what the world says is right, we can find it difficult to view love from God's perspective. Love Defined provides a fresh perspective for women who want to honor Christ with every area of their lives. Kristen and Bethany write in a friendly, down-to-earth way, sharing relatable and easy to read stories throughout the entire book. I would recommend Love Defined to any young women looking for a different way of viewing love and romance--anyone who wants to gain an understanding of how God views these things. *I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review* Kristen Clark is married to her high school sweetheart, Zack, is the cofounder of GirlDefined Ministries and coauthor of Girl Defined and Love Defined. She is passionate about promoting the message of biblical womanhood through blogging, speaking, mentoring young women, and hosting Bible studies in her living room. In the end, she’s just a fun-lovin’ Texas girl who adores all things outdoors and eats dark chocolate whenever possible. Bethany Baird is a Texas born and raised girl doing life with her parents and seven siblings. She is the cofounder of GirlDefined Ministries, coauthor of Girl Defined and Love Defined. Bethany is passionate about spreading the truth of biblical womanhood through blogging, speaking, and mentoring young women. To her family and close friends, she is simply a tall blonde girl who loves hosting game nights, is obsessed with smoothie bowls, drinks way too much coffee, and can’t get enough of her little fluffy dog. Thank you for spending time with us here today, Kristen and Bethany! <3
Bella Morganthal
5/21/2018 06:28:37 pm
Thanks for reading! :)
Sue
5/14/2018 04:24:30 pm
Great interview Bella! And definitely two books that are a must read for young ladies!
Anna P.
5/18/2018 05:06:30 pm
I literally JUST read "Girl Defined..." and LOVED reading it!!! I should definitely check out their new book--"Love Defined!" This was so fun to read! :) They had some really interesting ice cream ideas! XD Glow in the dark sounds fun! 5/19/2018 04:33:13 pm
I loved this interview, I am so happy you were able to interview them, both of their books sound amazing! The interview was very interesting and I love the stories they shared in it. :) And those ice cream flavors they want to make sound amazing! :P Comments are closed.
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