Hannah Farver and Lindsey Wagstaffe are two teenage ladies who are passionate about reclaiming and promoting the robust, biblical vision of true womanhood. In 2005, they founded a website for young women called Beauty from the Heart. The site quickly became a go-to spot for young women interested in recovering God’s design for feminine attractiveness. Being nationally ranked public speakers, their ministry soon extended to a string of conferences on themes such as purity, modesty, and femininity.
Last week, I posted my interview with Hannah. Today, I’m posting Lindsay’s responses to the same questions.
1. First of all, do you mind if I ask your age, how many siblings you have, and where you are in your schooling (what year?)?
Sure. I’m eighteen, and I have two younger sisters. I’m currently taking classes from home as a freshman with The Master’s College.
2. How has your family been instrumental in the formation and cultivation of your faith in Christ?
Oh, wow. In countless ways. Since childhood, my parents made it abundantly clear that Christianity was not simply one facet of life to be dutifully attended to, but the whole orb that everything else was somehow linked to. I witnessed the gospel’s veracity proven daily through their steady preoccupation with Christ.
Some of my earliest memories are of Dad opening the Bible and reading aloud to me. As I grew older and entered my teens, he constantly encouraged me to think deeply, read deeply, and ask questions of everything I read, so we began hashing out theology and philosophy on a regular basis during dinner. (I might have triumphantly escaped a few cold bowls of squash in the distraction, too. Maybe.) Those nightly conversations throughout the years were critical in the formation of my strongest convictions, and they simultaneously gave rise to deep, abiding esteem for my dad and his wisdom. During the day, Mom sang praises (often with her own lyrics), shared openly what she was learning in the Word, and told me about her longings to be with Jesus in the Better Country– “our true home”, she’d insist. The wistful, eager way she talked made it difficult to imagine the Christian’s death as anything but the greatest adventure, or to associate heavenly things with dullness. But she didn’t attempt to hide her own struggles from me, either– and that gradually paved the way for me to share my own spiritual plateaus and mountain-tops freely as well. These mutual exchanges with her are now some of the most rewarding and sanctifying blessings of my life.
My sisters, too, have given me much by way of instruction, example, and encouragement. It was a great mistake when I assumed that I would be giving them one-sided instruction in the way of godliness until they were much older! Children can be wonderfully perceptive and direct (i.e., blunt) when it comes to sin, but their rib-cracking hugs, handwritten notes, kisses, and fiercely whispered “I love you”s dispense great grace as well. Interacting with them is humbling on many levels, and I’m still learning spiritual truths from their wonder, joy, trust, and unrestrained affections.
3. What sort of disciplines did your family implement that have been most influential for you?
The importance of forgiveness and keeping short, short accounts with each other has been one of the most major ones. Because my parents took the command “do not let the sun go down on your anger” in Ephesians 4 so seriously, we literally would not go to sleep– regardless of how many painful hours and tears it took to sort out the problem– until there was complete reconciliation between me and my parents. (Just to clarify: Only we girls bawl with each other until we have to blow our noses. Dad may have cried three times in his life, but no one is absolutely sure.) For me and my sisters, no “stewing” was permitted during the day; whenever we fought, everything halted until we apologized and re-friended each other. Likewise, Mom and Dad set the example in quick repentance when they were the ones at fault. As a result– long past the days of prodded confessions– I can’t typically go many minutes after sinning without being impelled to eat humble pie, and then enjoy the relief that a specific, honest apology brings. It’s a good kind of hurt, and it’s one of the foremost disciplines that’s kept our family close.
4. What books have been particularly meaningful to you?
The first that comes to mind is unquestionably The Cross-Centered Life, by C.J. Mahaney. Though I’d been surrounded by the gospel all my life, God used that little book to drive home the inadequacy of my own “righteousness”, and to play a key part in driving me to Christ for repentance. Since then, my copy has become a well-worn (and often-lent) handbook, faithfully reminding me of the gospel’s centrality. Shortly after becoming a Christian, my pastor gave me a copy of Knowing God by J.I. Packer, which fed and firmed my new passion with gloriously applicable theology. Desiring God, The Weight of Glory, and my book of Jonathan Edwards’ sermons have all become especially dear, life-shaping “friends” to me as well.
5. When did you take up speaking and writing?
Writing and reading became two of my greatest pleasures very early on in my education, but I really turned to writing in earnest during high school. I began blogging in 2005, and discovered a passion for public speaking in 2006.
6. What are your current projects?
Schooling my youngest sister, studying, and planning for next year’s California conferences are my main projects at present.
7. How can readers pray for you?
Honestly, for discipline in balancing out all my various commitments appropriately. That’s a never-ending struggle for me.