rebelling against low expectations
“Tell the world these things we are going through in Nigeria.” A twenty-eight-year-old mother of three, Aisha was raped–just because someone saw a Bible in her home and assumed her husband was a pastor. Her story and plea on the Open Doors website broke my heart. We hear these horror stories every once in a while in our Christian circles when someone feels the need to remind us of how good...
“Be okay with missing out,” I told a living room full of middle school girls. “You don’t have to be a part of every single activity or conversation.” We were talking about friendship, but the concept is relevant to so many areas of our lives: be okay with missing out. Easier said than done, I know. We want to be a part of everything. We want to be a part of not only conversations and activities...
Confession: I haven’t seen Endgame. Okay, no, that’s not the confession (though it is true). The confession is I haven’t even seen Infinity War. And it’s not because I don’t want to — far from it! Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I’m a Lord of the Rings-Star Wars-Marvel kind of girl. (Not DC. Sue me.) But then the doctor said no. No, you can’t watch action movies anymore. Sara, it’s...
“Can I just talk to you?” she asked, pausing in our driveway before she left. She had stopped by while running errands, and I’d been helping her find the stuff she’d come to pick up. “Of course!” I replied, pretty sure I knew where this was going. Sure enough, she began to share some of the emotions and struggles she’d been wrestling through that week. The only reason I knew about them was in...
My heart broke as yet another chronically ill teen unwittingly voiced questions and struggles I’d heard over and over again. Most of us don’t know it, but we all seem to have the same questions. Perhaps there are some variations in wording and scenarios, but those questions you are ashamed to verbalize? So many others have wondered the same things. You know what? It’s okay to ask those questions...
“Give me 110%!” the coaches yell from the sideline. It always bothers me when people say that. Though math isn’t my strong suit, 100% is complete. That’s all someone has to give. The extra 10% isn’t something people have. I mean, I understand people who say that are often just trying to be motivating, encouraging, and inspirational. I’ve also learned the hard way that even when we feel like we...
God’s idea of awareness (and self-awareness), is different from the world’s version. Very different. One is focused on God, and the other is on us (I’m sure you can guess which is which). Our culture promotes what they call self-discovery. Finding ourselves. Really, it all stems from the age-old human questions of who we are and why we exist. There’s nothing wrong with that. God wants us to have...
Around a year ago (give or take a few months), I took this online class. It was called Do Hard Things University, and it was awesome. I originally took the course in hopes of learning about just that — doing hard things — through teaching and class time. But I discovered something just as amazing: a community of like-minded young people. I wasn’t alone! There were more people out there who didn’t...
I didn’t want to wait. I’d already been waiting for months! I’d had plenty of preparation already, I had prayed a lot about it, I had the time, and I was ready to do this hard thing. God had placed in me a passion and desire to start a Bible study group to disciple younger girls. It was the sort of thing that I couldn’t simply forget or push to the back of my mind, even though I tried. But then...
As humans on earth, we sure spend a lot of time waiting, don’t we? Waiting for the bus, waiting for the microwave, waiting to be tall enough to ride the rollercoaster… plus some more serious things. Waiting is good! Waiting is an opportunity to learn patience, to prepare for whatever we’re waiting for, and to learn to trust God with His timing. There are some things in life, though, that I...
rebelling against low expectations
