rebelling against low expectations
When I was in middle school and high school, people started to notice I didn’t look quite like everyone else. I was very skinny and all of the sudden I started earning new nicknames: Twig, Chicken Legs, Little Liz. Kids started asking questions and making comments: Are you eating? Look how skinny your arms are! You’re so skinny, if you turned sideways you’d disappear! Do you have an eating...
We spend a lot of our time asking the wrong questions. “What can I do or what can I get away with and still be a Christian?” “Is it sin if I do this?” We may not word our questions this way, but we ask them, nonetheless. The reality of what these questions show us is that we want to live a double life. We want to be able to indulge in the pleasures of sin while also maintaining our salvation. We...
What is it about vacations that make them so wonderful? Depending on who you are probably determines your favorite vacation, but I think we love them so much because we crave rest. We crave a break from our normal routine. My vacation was extra sweet this summer. Not because I got to read three books in one week (what a dream!), but because I left my phone in my room and took a week long hiatus...
Sharing your faith with unbelievers can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are 10 tips to begin sharing your faith with the unbelievers in your life. 1. Listen more than you talk Have you ever noticed a time when you acted like a fantastic listener, saying things like, “yeah” and “mhm” and “right!”, only to find out you didn’t hear a word that person said? As a society, we’re...
These days, everyone is weighing in on screen time, technology usage, and social media. And it’s not just adults worrying about kids and teenagers; they’re finding they need limits in these areas, too. In a world that widely uses social media and technology, what is a Christian to do? Some cut social media from their lives completely to avoid all temptation. On the opposite side of the spectrum...
“We should have a relationship that keeps Christ at the center.” I read his text, confused, but so giddy that he actually wanted a relationship that I decided to go along with it. “Definitely,” I said back. But I never stopped to ask what he meant by that. What does it mean to have Christ at the center of your relationship? What does that look like? Does a Christian relationship mean you don’t...
Why are dating relationships so hard to navigate? Maybe it’s texting a friend of the opposite gender and wondering if you like each other or if it will ever be more than just friends. Or you get home from that first date you’ve been waiting for, and it didn’t go as expected. Or you’re finally dating your crush and it isn’t going like you hoped. Or you’re in a relationship and you just can’t seem...
“It’s so hard to pray because I always forget or don’t make the time.” “I just don’t know how to grow closer to God. He feels far away.” “I feel like I’m totally failing in following Jesus. Am I even a real Christian?” Have you ever said or felt any of these things? We tend to make following Jesus a sort of production. We have to say the right things, read the Bible at a specific time, pray a...
Learning about the practice of new spiritual disciplines can be intimidating and overwhelming. It can feel like a New Year’s resolution where the excitement of a new goal is what carries us into a few weeks of strict implementation, only to be squashed by exhaustion, discouragement, and unforeseen circumstances. But it is possible to take small steps toward practicing spiritual disciplines in...
You know what is one of the worst cliche sayings ever? “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I’m not one for cliche sayings to begin with, but that one has never sat quite right with me. I’ve always felt like it was a lie; a saying to give you false hope in the midst of your suffering; something to slap on the walls of a classroom to give half-hearted encouragement to its readers. After...
rebelling against low expectations
