rebelling against low expectations
There is an image that has stayed with me over the past few years. An image of a girl whose face is streaked with tears. In her hands she holds pieces of shattered glass and a tiny little arrow, all of this is red from the cuts upon her skin. It is all that is left of her compass. The girl had clutched it far too tightly within her sweaty palm, so as she stumbled on, watching for the coming dawn...
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” Many of us are familiar with these seemingly simple words, along with the rest of Psalm 23. While they may be simple, these verses do not fall short of profound truth and encouragement. Many of my family members are farmers in Michigan. One spring morning, my mom drove my siblings and I to the Upper Peninsula to visit our uncle who raises sheep. While...
It can be very easy to stay stuck in the past especially when a past season has been very difficult. From my personal experience, I know the struggle is real. When I was in the middle of a dark time in my life, the Lord spoke to me from the song Out of Hiding by Steffany Gretzinger. I woke up one morning hearing the lyric, “Oh, as you run, what hindered love will only become part of the story.”...
“You’re strong enough to get through this.” I hear and read that comment often, and each time it makes my heart hurt. Sometimes it stops at that – a little hurt. But sometimes, in those dark moments for which “you are strong enough” is intended, it doesn’t just make my heart hurt. No, it makes it rip open and bleed. “You’re strong enough to do this. You’re strong enough for this trial. You’re...
Recently, I embarked on a new sort of journey. One I had previously never known or experienced. I began my first committed relationship for the purpose of marriage. During that relationship, I experienced such a wide spectrum of emotions and grappled with my view of myself, God, and others. As I look back over that short journey, I cannot help but see several lessons the Lord taught me along the...
My schedules and planners say I want to know my future. Don’t we all? We want to know what’s going to go on. We want to know what we are supposed to accomplish. What should I do once I graduate? What friends should I hang out with this week? Should I pursue a writing career, or an engineering one? Should I accept this job in Colorado, or move with my family to Florida? Should I begin this new...
It was supposed to be over. The hurricane of chaos that formed in 2020 was supposed to dissipate as the sun rose on January 1, 2021. It’s what the media promised. It’s what our weary hearts hoped for to the point of delusion. But it wasn’t reality. When we awoke to a new year, racism still existed in the hearts of men. COVID 19 and its variants remained a present threat. And political upheaval...
“You Christians always talk about God being like a father, but what does that mean?” her eyes searched mine, but they weren’t accusing. Just questioning. “What does it mean if someone is like a father?” My heart broke. While my earthly father is far from perfect, I never had the struggle of not knowing what a father is supposed to be like – the very struggle the girl sitting in front of me...
Just today, I got a message from a girl on social media who shared this: I am still not married and it’s what I’ve desired and dreamed of since I was twelve years old. If it’s not God’s will, I have been diligently praying that He would take away this desire, but He hasn’t. What unfulfilled longings are weighing on your heart right now? Getting married? Having one real and true friend? Having...
“It’s so hard to pray because I always forget or don’t make the time.” “I just don’t know how to grow closer to God. He feels far away.” “I feel like I’m totally failing in following Jesus. Am I even a real Christian?” Have you ever said or felt any of these things? We tend to make following Jesus a sort of production. We have to say the right things, read the Bible at a specific time, pray a...
rebelling against low expectations
