rebelling against low expectations
Abby Johnson stared at the black and white ultrasound image. The tiny baby on the monitor was so perfect and beautiful. Suddenly, something else appeared on the screen. It looked foreign and out of place. Abby didn’t want to look, but she could not pull her eyes away from the image. As the abortion doctor turned on the suction, the baby, once so perfect and beautiful, disappeared as she was...
Words have reached light-speed. We can type something in a minute and thousands of people can see it in an hour. We can speak to more people than could ever fit within our earshot, all at one time. We can spread inspiration, joy, love, and encouragement to so many so fast. This is because we have been blessed with an amazing tool—technology-based communication. But with this gift comes an...
Have you ever looked around at the world and noticed that something is terribly wrong? You see pain and death and mistakes. You see confusion and depravity. In our society, 3,000 sweet, innocent baby lives are lost every single day-but what’s worse—it is celebrated. Living Among the Broken Selfishness reigns. Suicide has risen to an all-time high as hopelessness permeates our society...
Have you ever been called sheltered? Have you ever had someone make fun of you for being innocent? I have. Words like “sheltered” or “innocent” can cause a quick burst of shame to slither down your spine, and make you feel less-than or not-enough. After all, we live in a culture that exalts the street-smart and world-wise, the ones who have gone around the proverbial block of life and come out...
Today we vote. Today we “decide the fate of the Republic.” Today, those of us in America, exercise our “God-given rights” as a Democracy to decide who we will be: What laws we will follow and what leaders we want to guide those decisions. I don’t know about you, but this season can be a little overwhelming. Everyone’s emphasizing the importance of this election, even though we emphasize that...
The night of the last presidential election, I made a poor decision. I looked at Twitter. My feed was full of tweets and retweets rejoicing, mourning, celebrating, or decrying the situation as it unfolded, minute by minute. Praise and blame was heaped on both of the major candidates—and on their supporters. My birthday came just a year too late for me to vote in the presidential election. As I...
Any 16-year-old homeschooler experiencing college for the first time would be daunted. That’s why, on my first persuasive essay for English, I decided to do my project on an easy-to-agree-with subject: the value of nutrition and home cooking. Deep down inside I wanted to put all of my past research on abortion, child abuse, and other world problems to good use. So why didn’t I? From Timid to Bold...
If you were granted one wish, what would it be? Most teenagers can answer this question without a thought: “To visit my favorite sports player, to meet my favorite band, to embark on a dream get away…” But what happens when a sixteen-year-old state champion football player finds out that his sports injury was a tumor dangerously close to his heart, and he has aggressive bone cancer resistant to...
It started out just fine. A cast I admired, an intimate and dark setting, a sense of excitement as the audience chattered in low voices before the first act. I sat in excited anticipation. The cast was all I expected them to be– funny, engaging, perfect for their individual roles. They had the audience chuckling in the first minute. But I was surprised by the outburst of profanity as the...
Western culture has taught us a lot of things. Unfortunately, a lot of these things are wrong, and we don’t even realize it. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” (Romans 12:2a). Jesus did not call us to be like the world. He called us to be like him. To be different. Society—and ultimately Satan—has filled our head with lies. He has crept in through...
rebelling against low expectations
