rebelling against low expectations
Recently I found a paper entitled “My Fear of Failure,” that I had written for an introductory writing course three years ago. I almost cried as I re-read it, because of how dismal my outlook was back then. At one point I had written the following: “If I could push aside this fear of failure, I’d be nearly limitless. I have dreams of going on adventures that I could never do now because my fear...
Reason and emotion. People often think of these two things as opposites, or maybe even extremes, where you should choose one and discard the other. Some people regard reason as superior, while others hold emotion as more important. Some people have passionate zeal for God and the ministry, but they have no true knowledge about God. “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not...
Imagine being with the disciples after the death and burial of Jesus. They had spent three years coming to know and love this Man. He had taught them, laughed with them, cried with them–he had done life with them. Not only this, but they had given up everything for him. They had left behind their trades, families, and the lifestyles they’d known to follow the One they believed to be the...
Kerthump. Kerthump. The pounding was real. When had my heart last felt this way, like a trapped animal slamming against itself against unescapable cage walls? I reached for the one-way ticket in my pocket, took a breath, and headed to the plane. Whose idea was this, again? Sure, I’d long felt called to write about how Christian students can navigate secular education without losing their faith...
A few weeks ago, a friend asked me, “What is one major thing you struggle with, that keeps you from striving towards God?” The second I heard it, the answer became clear– fear. We all face fears, fear of the future, failure, rejection, and betrayal. It’s crippling. The fact is, if we aren’t careful, fear will take root in our lives and control all our decisions. It creeps in like a thief seeking...
Last April, a group of five teens from tribal India did a teeny-tiny little hard thing. They summited Mount Everest. Okay, so maybe it was kind of a hard thing. The funny thing is, a year prior, they hadn’t even known the name of the highest summit (Everest). Now, according to the BBC, not only have they summited the giant, they’re ready to start working on another one (maybe Mount...
I used to be an introvert. When my family walked into church and the pastor told us to “mingle,” dread crawled up my spine. At parties, I sat alone and pretended to be okay with remaining silent. Fear kept me from speaking the first words, and I watched the faces going by, hoping a friend would break away from their cliques to talk to me. I used to be an introvert. In some ways, I still am. But I...
We’ve been given the greatest gift imaginable–the love of God. But many Christians, including myself, struggle with accepting so great a gift. We feel like we’re not good enough. Or, maybe we think we’re good enough sometimes, but after we commit certain sins, we’re unworthy for a while. That is a lie. If we’re unworthy sometimes, we’re unworthy all the time. Nothing we do could makes us...
When I was around eleven or twelve years old, I had an idea. I’d heard what people said about teenagers–and they weren’t good things. I couldn’t believe teenagers–even so-called Christian teenagers–would act the way people said they did. But then I started to see it for myself. I was shocked and horrified. And so I had this idea, this ideal promise that I made...
Shasta felt like he was dreaming. For as long as he could remember, he had always had an odd longing to go to the north. Beyond the small grassy hill that marked the border of his little world, curiosity called to him. He could never explain why, but he wanted to go there desperately. And now, here he was, saddling a friendly, talking horse named Bree, soon to run away with him “to Narnia and the...
rebelling against low expectations
