rebelling against low expectations
How do you do hard things…when you can’t even get out of bed? Sara Willoughby—long-time rebelutionary and author of He’s Making Diamonds: A Teen’s Thoughts on Faith Through Chronic Illness—was given a few months to live at the age of 15. Over the course of several years, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease, toxic mold poisoning, and MCS. In this honest and vulnerable conversation, we talk about...
When someone we love receives a chronic illness diagnosis, it is easy to feel helpless. It doesn’t matter if they are our younger brother, our mother, or our best friend. We can still feel like we are too young to help them. For most of us chronic illness is huge and scary and unknown. What can we possibly do? Yet you don’t have to be a certain age to love someone. Love is about relationships...
I began developing the symptoms of my multiple chronic illnesses at the age of 13. People always seem to feel sorry for me about the early onset of my illnesses, and have expressed their sympathy by saying things like, “You’re too young to be sick.” This may sound crazy, but I have learned to view my suffering in a different way. God has taught me to see it as a blessing. Life...
My heart broke as yet another chronically ill teen unwittingly voiced questions and struggles I’d heard over and over again. Most of us don’t know it, but we all seem to have the same questions. Perhaps there are some variations in wording and scenarios, but those questions you are ashamed to verbalize? So many others have wondered the same things. You know what? It’s okay to ask those questions...
There are many things in life that can get us down. Daily struggles and difficult situations try to steal our joy all the time. This is something I personally have experienced in my life. But God doesn’t want us to live in constant sorrow. In fact, He came so that we might experience His joy even in the middle of our struggles and hard seasons. Here are three reasons we can rejoice in the Lord...
Do you feel stuck in a season of waiting? Waiting for a relationship. Waiting for healing from chronic illness. Waiting to graduate. Waiting for the next season of life. Waiting… waiting… waiting. There are so many things we wait for in life. In this episode, Sara and Tabitha share about things they’re waiting for and how to keep hoping, trusting, and living in seasons of...
I’m halfway through my first semester of college now, which is really hard to believe. It’s been a rollercoaster, but it’s been teaching me a lot, and I want to share some of that with you. It’s Okay to Change Your Major When I came to college I had everything planned out—my major, whether or not I wanted to go to graduate school, and my career. Then I got to school. It was only about two weeks...
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...
In my world, until I was fourteen, hard things only happened to other people. People I didn’t know, except by proxy, who my family would pray for, and my parents would discuss sadly. Not my friends and family. Not me. When My Life Fell Apart I’m not talking about the everyday ups and downs life gives us. I’m talking about the heart-breaking tragedies so many of God’s children face. The deaths of...
Chronic illness is one of the hardest things to ever happen to me. It’s also one of the best. I know, that probably doesn’t make sense. Chronic illness doesn’t sound like a “good” thing. Hard things generally don’t seem good. I didn’t think it was a good thing when I got sick. But, as time has gone on and my mindset has changed, I’ve realized what a gift it is. Maybe I just needed to redefine...
rebelling against low expectations
