rebelling against low expectations
If you are anything like me, you have probably spent a lot more time on social media this year. This might have something to do with us all having to social distance for weeks, even months. I am so grateful that social media has enabled me to stay in touch with friends and family during a rather trying year, but I am still left to wonder, is social media doing more harm than good? Broadband...
Humans crave routine. Much of this routine is provided by our schoolwork, extracurriculars, jobs, and church activities. We have to wake up, shower, eat, attend class, and clock in at a certain time. But, these days, our routines and habits have been disrupted by COVID. Even as the world slowly reopens, most of us will still be spending more time at home than normal. While the increased...
She just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Her mother and siblings were urging her to join them as they were leaving for a trip–but Elizabeth felt panic rushing over her body, and she couldn’t explain why. As the panic attack stole Elizabeth’s control over her body, she passed out on the ground, cancelling her family’s trip as they rushed to help her. Dark episodes like these continued throughout...
Editor’s Note: When it comes to working out and taking care of our bodies, we might think things like that don’t have anything to do with being a follower of Jesus. But we believe that, as Christians, we should be wise stewards of the resources God has given us and one of our foremost resources is our own body! Read on for Audrey’s excellent tips on being intentional to care for...
As an extrovert, I have been figuring out how I can still foster relationships and satisfy my urges to hang out with people while practicing social isolation. While many of us are stuck in our homes due to coronavirus, I have discovered that hearing someone’s voice is one of our most powerful tools to foster relationships, and I think we should call people more often, even when we are not in the...
This last December, I participated in perhaps the craziest ministry outreach ever. I work with an inner-city children’s ministry, and we ran two major Christmas events over one weekend, telling hundreds of kids and their families about Jesus and giving them all Christmas presents. Our final event on Sunday involved busing in dozens of kids to our church partner that had been collecting special...
A couple years ago, I attended a friend’s laser tag birthday party. The venue was packed and chaotic. Over the course of playing many rounds of laser tag, I was astounded by how disrespectful most of the participants were to the employees. At the end of a round, I mentioned to one of the employees how chaotic the place was and how difficult it must be to work there. I was shocked and heartbroken...
I’ve always feared caring for small children. Obviously, small children are not inherently scary, but I have never had any practice in caregiving. I started volunteering in the elementary children’s church when I was twelve years old, and I stayed with that age group for years because that’s where I was always needed. Thus, I never got any practice caring for smaller children. Of course, I...
I crashed the computer program in less than two minutes. I’m not talking about the kind of crash where you can just exit out of the program. I pushed the wrong combination of buttons, and the computer screen completely froze up. After initially panicking, I finally restarted the computer, desperately hoping it would regain its sanity. How did I end up in this predicament? Well, I was sitting in...
If you have ever been a dedicated church member, I am sure you have witnessed church chaos or drama at one point or another, maybe even multiple times. My family and I have been a part of several churches where we fully dedicated our time, finances, and resources to serve the church. Unfortunately, during my teenage years we also experienced several messy break-ups with churches due to issues...
rebelling against low expectations
