rebelling against low expectations
I was an atheist. This is my story. Angry, Uncertain, and Insecure Junior year of high school. I’m an ardent atheist–but not a satisfied one. Having walked away from the church years earlier, I had embroiled myself in an eating disorder, and struggled deeply with self-image, destructive thoughts, and obsession with food. I had gone through an unhealthy attachment that shattered my values...
I shivered as I read. I knew that many of Christ’s apostles and early disciples were heavily persecuted; but I wasn’t prepared for the gruesome deaths detailed on the pages before me. I closed my eyes, but couldn’t remove the gory pictures from my mind. Stoned. Fed to lions. Burned as torches. And worse. Would you do it for me, Anna? I hesitated. Tears filled my eyes. Lord, I don’t know if I...
It started out just fine. A cast I admired, an intimate and dark setting, a sense of excitement as the audience chattered in low voices before the first act. I sat in excited anticipation. The cast was all I expected them to be– funny, engaging, perfect for their individual roles. They had the audience chuckling in the first minute. But I was surprised by the outburst of profanity as the...
How often do you pause and imagine the day you’ll stand before God? Do you close your eyes and imagine a world with no anger, no bitterness, no sadness, no loneliness? Can you taste the sweetness of freedom? Can you feel life overflowing the cup of your soul? When your heart will realize that the war it has fought on Earth, the battles won and lost, are all over and done with forever? That you...
The alarm clock goes off with a pleasant tune that makes me want to bury myself in the pillow rather than roll out of bed. Groggily I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling, a silent battle raging in my mind. Should I get up? Five more minutes of shut-eye can’t be that bad…or maybe ten…twenty sounds better. At this point, my carnal mind is telling me: It’s dark out. People don’t get up...
The world loves to talk about the struggle for authenticity. As many teens (and adults) will recognize, we constantly encounter messages in mainstream culture such as “be yourself!” and “let them know how you feel!” They’re tempting when they present the opportunity to lay down our wearily-built facades and “live and let live.” Before I became a Christian, I lived like this — throwing...
rebelling against low expectations
