rebelling against low expectations
Fasting—”going without food for religious purposes”—is an ancient tradition. References to fasting are scattered throughout both the Old and New Testaments, as well as church history. Like prayer and Bible reading, it’s a basic part of the Christian walk with God. But it is a part many of us aren’t familiar with. My Experience With Fasting Growing up in a Christian community, I...
If I could recommend one book to read in 2021, it would be The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I picked up a copy last summer when the library reopened, and even though the book was published in 2017, it felt like it was written yesterday. It felt like it was about now. About the Book The Hate U Give is about a 16-year-old girl named Starr Carter who, at the beginning of the book, is living in a...
School is out for the season, and you’re home for the holidays, curled up in front of the fire with a cat purring at your feet. A tall Christmas tree twinkles in the corner. Sipping hot chocolate and munching Christmas cookies, only one thing is missing: a good book. Okay, maybe your life actually consists of your siblings screaming at each other, your mom asking you to empty the dishwasher, and...
Editor’s note: Emily Smucker is a staff writer for TheReb and has recently released a memoir, from which this moving story is an excerpt. We’ll let her explain it… Two years ago, I set off on a year-long road trip around the USA, where I planned to live in a different community every single month and support myself by writing. Nothing quite went like I expected it to, and I ended up writing...
This month, I set out to compile a list of book recommendations that vaguely capture the feeling of now: the world seems tilted, and we wonder when things will be normal again. I don’t know what it’s like in your area, but here in Oregon so many things are still closed down. I feel like I’m cooped up with no clear idea of when I’ll be able to travel and socialize freely again. Because of this, I...
One day, wanting a fun, easy read, I pulled a P.G. Wodehouse book off the shelf. P.G. Wodehouse was a British author who wrote hilarious, clever books, and they always cheer me up when I’m having a rough time. This particular book was titled Thank You, Jeeves, and was published in the 1930s. It followed two popular characters created by Wodehouse: Bertie Wooster, a rich British chap who’s always...
I’ve never read Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. I’ve never read What’s So Amazing about Grace, by Philip Yancey, or Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Many people, over the years, have mentioned these books offhandedly as tomes that every person ought to read. But I haven’t. Because they seem difficult to me. Moby Dick seems difficult because I know it contains long, boring descriptions of whaling...
Starting a Book Club When “Gathering” Is Difficult There are many reasons to start a book club. Maybe you love to read, and you want to participate in a book-focused social activity. Maybe you enjoy a unique genre of books, and you want to discuss them with somebody who understands. Or maybe you want to push yourself to read more, or read a wider variety of books, or read something that will grow...
Do you ever wonder why there’s so much drama surrounding relationships? Ever since the days of Adam and Eve, people have managed to fall in love, marry, and make things work. It shouldn’t be that complicated, right? After all, God knows who we’re supposed to marry. Can’t he work out all the logistics? Nevertheless, in the “crushing” stage of relationships, we tend to do dumb stuff that causes...
The other day I found myself wandering through the aisles of Target, looking for the perfect gift for the $5 and under gift exchange I was having with my cool new friends. It had to be universally appealing to both guys and girls, and establish me as the sort of person who was fun, and had good taste, and so forth. “Ha! And you were planning to write an article about how to reduce holiday...
rebelling against low expectations
