rebelling against low expectations
Are you ever afraid God has abandoned you? It’s easy to fear that sometimes. When you see the depths of your own depravity and sin—when you give in to temptation again and search desperately for freedom—you wonder how God could still love you. How He could still be with you. Or maybe, for whatever reason, He just feels far away; doubts and despair come knocking on the door of your heart and...
We’re apt to criticize the Christmas season. It’s true, there’s a lot to criticize in the way our culture defines Christmas. What should be a season of beauty, wonder, and worship becomes several weeks of fighting crowds and harried online shopping. Celebration of our Savior’s birth turns into the stress of too many parties and events. As Christians, of course we should push back against this...
It’s no secret that I love music. The Spotify app on my computer is almost always open. I have several albums downloaded on my phone. I memorize the lyrics for my favorite songs and sing them at the top of my lungs when no one else is around. I play both violin and guitar whenever I have time, and I’ve even tried my hand at songwriting (rather poorly). It’s no secret that our culture loves music...
I still remember the delight of sitting on the living room floor and drinking hot chocolate while my mom read The Lord of the Rings aloud to me and my brothers. I remember how invested I was in each and every character, the excitement of seeing them struggle and overcome, the surprise of each plot point. I remember trying to decide who was my favorite character (pretty much every one of the...
What if? Few phrases in English are so full of possibility, fear, and anticipation. What if I finish that project? What if I don’t? What if I achieve that goal? What if I fail? What if everything somehow goes right? What if something terrible happens tomorrow? Tomorrow—it’s all in the future. And with all of tomorrow’s possibilities come all its fears. Tomorrow everything could be wonderful...
Over the past couple of days, I’ve been making shopping plans. Not the going-to-the-mall-and-buying-clothes kind of shopping. This is about notebooks, backpacks, and all the other things I need to get before I leave for college in just a couple of weeks. The shopping lists on my whiteboard have been getting longer and longer as I try to figure out where and when to buy socks, sheets, and extra...
Winter is all well and good in December – we can dream of a white Christmas (or not, if you live closer to the equator). The chill in the air may be a reminder of hot chocolate at home and presents under the tree. But soon enough, December is past, and we face not only another year, but another few months of cold weather and gray skies. Many of us are also beginning another semester of school and...
Where do you start when you want to understand a verse, passage, or chapter of the Bible? There are a lot of things you could do to help you understand it. But the most important tool—other than prayer—comes before all of those. That tool is context. The Importance of Context My mom once said that every verse you study lives in an environment. If you were going to study an animal—say, a species...
When I need to think through something, I write it down. I know this doesn’t work for everyone—some people are external processors and need to talk it through with a friend. For some, just attempting to journal can cause more stress than it alleviates. But my method of processing the world inevitably involves writing, whether it’s sitting down to journal or just writing angsty poetry in class. I...
Bible reading. Prayer. Meditation. Fellowship. If you’ve spent some time in the church (or even on TheReb), you’ve probably heard a lot about these. You’ve probably also heard about some lesser-known practices like fasting, solitude, secrecy, or celebration. These are spiritual disciplines. Maybe you’re dedicated to practicing some or all of them. Maybe you think it would be a good idea and want...
rebelling against low expectations
