rebelling against low expectations
Having a legalistic background growing up, I experienced family devotions as being forced and stale. They were a chore. When it came to my own pursuit of God, I struggled then and now to this day. However, there is one habit that has been like a breath of fresh air. Gratitude. Gratitude has been an incredible encouragement to me. It is a practice that matters every day, not just in November for...
This past year was hard, no question. Looking ahead to the new year, I immediately feel a little worried about the uncertainty. None of us know what the new year holds. But I for myself have decided not to let the enemy win this one. One of the best weapons we have against the devil’s schemes is thankfulness. I want to start the new year with thankfulness. Thankfulness looking back I have always...
My hopes of having a good holiday season this year weren’t that high. Because COVID has made 2020 stressful, isolating, and hard to navigate, I had my doubts that Christmas would be as enjoyable as other years. I didn’t expect to have a wonderful time because Christmas during a pandemic couldn’t be as special, right? In spite of such a hectic year, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to be savoring...
2020 has been tough. COVID-19, riots, the election, possible voter fraud…I could go on and on. No doubt about it – things have been insane. Frankly, everything going on has made me stress, and I’m sure most of you feel the same way! So, I have a challenge for you this holiday season: I believe this is particularly important to do once in a while so we may thank God for those...
I wasn’t prepared for the pictures. Girls who had forgotten my name posed in prom dresses with guys I hadn’t allowed myself to like. To them, I was nothing more than some kid in chemistry class. Even the girls who went without dates wouldn’t bother to invite me. So I imagined the evening they must have had. I wondered what it would be like to wear that flowing ball gown, to go out to...
We live in America. We’re surrounded by technology. We have nice homes, and nice furniture, and nice cars, and more Bibles than we can shake a stick at. We have family. We have pets and decorations and books. We’re healthy. And we complain. If we look at it that way, it sounds absolutely crazy! But it’s absolutely true. We complain about not living someplace better. We complain...
“Time flies.” We’ve probably heard that phrase a million times in a million different ways. I heard it consistently growing up, but I never understood what it meant. To a kid, time goes about as fast as a giant tortoise can climb Mt. Everest. At least, that’s how I felt—until my junior year of high school. It seemed that all of a sudden my calendar filled and chaos ensued. Every night...
I hate it when I mess up. If you’ve ever had a mosquito hover in your face, you’ve probably faced the question, “Why would God make such an annoying, stupid creature?” My mistakes, also annoying and stupid, leave me with similar thoughts: “God, why did you let me say something so stupid?” or, “Why did I have to act like that?” I may never know the purpose of a mosquito, but after much experience...
“I hate you!” “What’s the big deal?” “Stop bossing me around.” “Get out of my face!” “If I could, I would report you to the Child Abuse Prevention Association.” “Why can’t you be like other parents?” “I don’t need you.” “Why don’t you just die?!” Have you ever harbored those thoughts before? (Maybe...
rebelling against low expectations
