rebelling against low expectations
New Year’s Eve 2019. I remember it like it was yesterday. We didn’t have any plans, so my family and I stayed home to ring in the New Year. We binge watched a TV show while I ate too much chocolate and an embarrassing number of cream puffs until a shiny, brand new 2020 rolled onto the calendar. Another year over. Another just begun. A few days before, I’d written in my journal, “What will this...
I ran up the path as fast as I could, struggling, out of breath, yet ecstatic. Mary Magdalene caught up to me, as she had stayed at the tomb longer. We rushed up to the door of the room where the disciples were and knocked on the door. It didn’t open. “James! He’s alive!” I yelled through the wood. I heard footsteps. As the door opened, the beautiful Sunday morning light...
“You know how something in my relationship with God has been off lately?” I asked my friend over the phone. As soon as I asked the question, I heard a quiet sigh as she replied, “Yes.” I went on to tell her what I theorized the problem to be. That happened many times over the past several months, when I finally came to realize the root of it all: my passion for Jesus was gone. However, what I...
2020 has been a terrible year. We’re only halfway through it, and I’ve already seen several articles, videos, and online forums label 2020 as “the worst year” of this century, of their lives, and even of all time. (Just Google “2020 is the worst year,” and you’ll see what I mean.) Based on what has already happened so far, I can see why. 2020 Unmasked This year boasts a...
I don’t care if I get fired. I thought jokingly, I’ve got to get a drink. I had been bringing carts in from the parking lot for the past few hours–not exactly easy work in South Florida, where it’s in the 80-degree range, even during the winter. I was pretty thirsty. It had been a couple hours since my lunch break. By now, I felt parched. It might sound cliché, but the water from the Publix...
Every year has its fears—but this year has had more than its share of them. We’ve had fires, threats of war, and now this unknown that could be hiding anywhere among us—the Coronavirus. There are a hundred things we want to do. Be afraid. Hide. Use every bottle of hand sanitizer. Stock up on toilet paper. Live in a hazmat suit. As we see more and more people come down with this virus, it seems...
It was one of those weeks. Work was insane; three family friends passed away, twelve stressful sagas occurred between Monday and Friday of my typical week, I felt like a chicken with my head cut off, and as my anxiety, depression, overthinking, PMS, and IBS began to cycle, I felt as if I had lost all control. I wrote this in my journal: Suddenly, I feel as if I have forgotten how to let go and...
Teens want our Christianity to be alive. We live in a world full of bright explosions, flipping numbers, and urgent calls from everywhere. There is so much to do, so we want our faith to be powerful, moving, and deeply felt. So when theology comes up, we might sigh. When discussions about inerrancy or impeccability or any other long i-word comes up, we shrug or settle back into that resigned...
I’m not a fan of football. It’s just not my thing. I’ve never been good at sports in general, but I’ve always failed at anything involving throwing or chasing a ball. Therefore, while the world gets excited about Sundays such as Super Bowl Sunday, to me it’s really just another day. However, as I was sitting and thinking about the Super Bowl and football in general, I saw some amazing...
I once had a pair of shoes that I wore until the bottoms were so thin that rocks poked up through the soles and my toes poked down. I wore them even though my mother said that they weren’t presentable, because I thought they were comfortable. They made me feel sassy and confident and tough and earthy. I wore them until socks would have protected my feet more than those shoes. And when I...
rebelling against low expectations
