rebelling against low expectations
Friendships can be complicated. Many battle loneliness and a lack of true friendships. Others experience one-sided friendships. Even more have friendships filled with ungodly influences. We know that having good friends is important…but it can feel so hard. Sara and Tabitha dive into this topic today and share how to find and make godly friends (and how to be one yourself), what to do if a friend...
In middle school and most of high school, I was the girl who sat alone—at youth group, my homeschool co-op, and pretty much any other social situation you can imagine. I felt invisible, like I could disappear, and none of my peers would notice. At the end of the day, they went home with phones full of contacts and plans for the weekend. I didn’t. But I was far from alone in my experience—61% of...
I could argue that I have the best friends anyone could ever ask for. I’m sure that many of you could argue that as well. There’s a certain joy and hope that comes from spending time with wholesome friends, isn’t there? A part of you fills with love and plenty of laughter. The book of Proverbs talks a lot about friendship and says that “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for...
I have a confession to make. When I said I could write an article about how to be friends with people who are different than you, I was excited to tackle the topic. But as time went on and I prayed and wrote and prayed and stared at that blinking cursor, I had to take a look at my own life. Where are my different friends? How am I supposed to be an expert on making friends who are different than...
“Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade… It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else’s head – even if in the end you conclude someone else’s head is not really a place you’d like to be.” Thus journalist and New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell wrote in the preface of his book...
It happened at church one day. I heard my friend talking about an event she went to where she was given a free copy of a new Bible translation I had been excited to read. At this time, I didn’t really know my friend very well. She was talking about how thrilled she was to get this free copy. I asked someone else who had been at the event if there were extra free copies because I would really like...
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Frodo doesn’t make it on his own. His journey throughout the story is a long, tough one, and he only succeeds because he shares his journey with the fellowship of the ring: the companions who stand by him, with him, and fight for him. As I read the story, one of these companions quickly became one of my favorite fictional characters: Frodo’s trusty...
He crumpled to the dusty road as blow after blow landed on his back and head. Everything went black. Moments later, he felt something warm trickling down his cheek; then heard footsteps shuffling closer to where he lay. An audible gasp, and the shuffling faded off into the distance. Again, all went black. A second time he came to but instead of blows, he felt strong arms lifting him off the...
Have you ever felt overwhelmed and frustrated with your life? I definitely have! Just recently, I received a call from my best friend, where he told me I could have his car for a mere fraction of what it was worth. It was an answer to prayer, because in about a month, I would be heading off to school, and didn’t have a method of transportation (other then asking other students for a ride). And...
I couldn’t believe what I heard. In a room full of women, ranging in age 20-60, the speaker said not just twenty-somethings but also thirty and forty-somethings were not ready to, and therefore shouldn’t, disciple anyone. What they should do, according to this woman, is to seek to be discipled, sitting at the feet of the godliest older woman they can find at their church. As a twenty-something...
rebelling against low expectations
