rebelling against low expectations
The letter you are about to read was written out of the deep desire of my heart to start living a life that loved like Christ loved. A few months ago, I was holding on to my own plans, hopes, and wants so tightly that I was hurting people close to me. However, God in His grace got a hold of my heart and something in me changed. As I started asking Him to help me, He started filling me with a...
7 A.M. rolled around, and I felt fresh. God’s words were alive. Ideas flowed fast. I would dig through Scripture until something caught my eye that I could carry to my desk, and then I spent an hour typing up pages in my pajamas. Those pages worked nicely for Sunday blog posts. I sometimes wondered if a big Christian website might peek at them. And do you know what? Being a young Christian writer...
This pandemic severed our social lives, and many teens are turning to social media to fill some emptiness. As we scroll through happy pictures, jealousy creeps into our minds before we can stop it. Looking at huge successes of other bloggers can turn my happy attitude into discouragement as I look at my blog stats. God blessed me with so much, but if I’m honest, I find comparison and covetousness...
Recently, hundreds of people gathered in my state and others to protest stay-at-home regulations put in place by the state government. Among the protesters were small-business owners struggling to maintain their businesses, parents out of work and ineligible for unemployment benefits, people awaiting care that has been deprioritized, and others who were simply unconvinced of the danger of COVID...
As I copied the words “humble and gentle” from Ephesians 4:2 into my journal, the list of problems I constantly faced ran through my mind. I was too quiet, too unsure. I needed confidence and boldness to speak up. Why should I focus on being humble? That seemed like the opposite. I was puzzled. Humility was something I’d figured out a while ago. I didn’t brag. I didn’t think I was the best...
We spend a lot of our time asking the wrong questions. “What can I do or what can I get away with and still be a Christian?” “Is it sin if I do this?” We may not word our questions this way, but we ask them, nonetheless. The reality of what these questions show us is that we want to live a double life. We want to be able to indulge in the pleasures of sin while also maintaining our salvation. We...
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). When you do something, who’s getting the glory? When people watch your actions and listen to your words, is their admiration directed towards you or to your Heavenly Father? “All the glory to God.” I speak, read, and pray these words often. Since God has saved us, what can...
I was crying and screaming. “God, where are you?! Why have you left me when I need you the most? Why have you abandoned me?” I have severe anxiety. It wakes me up at night, gives me nightmares, and when my body doesn’t know what to do with all the built-up anxiety, it shuts down and makes me pass out. The panic attacks I experience make me want to just lay down and never get up...
My feet pounded the track, and I was out of breath. I was struggling, pushing hard…and then someone lapped me. Track is hard. I’ll be honest with you and tell you I was not a runner when I joined the middle school track team last spring. I got 16th place in a mile race with only 16 runners, and I was lapped quite often. I tried hard, but I was frequently discouraged. Still, I’m thankful...
To the one who grew up in a Christian family . . . To the one who memorized chapters of the Bible . . . To the one who wears T-shirts that read “child of the King”. I am speaking to the one who never rebelled against their parents, never went partying late at night and never shoplifted. I am speaking to the Christian who grew up with a false front marked “goodness.” I am speaking to people like...
rebelling against low expectations
