rebelling against low expectations
In high school, I suffered from anxiety that most teenagers suffer from; how I would do on tests, if a boy liked me, or what my teachers and peers thought about my character. However, as I grew into young adulthood, this mild anxiety developed into paralyzing diagnoses. Growing up, I heard myths about mental health that miraged my view of what it meant to fight something no one could see. I...
Invisible. That’s how I felt as my family had to overcome the many interruptions thrown at us because of the injuries inflicted on my dad by war. Even though we lived close to a military base, it seemed no one understood the pain I carried seeing my dad suffer from something that resulted from his dedication to our country. What hurt the most was witnessing the people whose freedom he fought for...
“Beauty will save the world,” says Sarah Clarkson in her book, This Beautiful Truth, and it is so true. In a world full of ugliness, death, and decay, God uses artists to create something beautiful, alive, and new. Beautiful words, music, and objects are how artists share and show the light of God. The artist’s call is to bring glory to the Great Artist and reflect his creation. But between the...
I went through a time in my life when praying felt empty, my devotions felt like a task, and my heart hurt so much I didn’t feel like my prayers were saying enough. I would often just put down my pencil and cry because I didn’t know what to say. I came to the point that I stopped praying any more than just, “Jesus, Jesus.” And weeping. But I didn’t stop reading my Bible, and something drew me to...
The knight stands, trying not to tremble. Sweat trickles down his back and drips from his hair. He’s breathing hard, his feet planted firmly on the ground. His sword and shield are raised, ready for another attack. But the attack never comes. He peers over the lip of his shield; no fire blasts his face, no claws reach out for his already bleeding body. The dragon lays still upon the ground. What...
To the human eye it may seem that the bigger you are, the stronger you are, the more daring you are, the more widely recognized you are, the braver you are. The ones we look to in the world and call brave know who they are and tell us how to be like them. But what if there are people out there braver than these? What if they face dragons just as fearsome, but those dragons are cloaked so the...
“Believe in yourself.” “Follow your heart.” We’ve all heard these phrases. Popular culture is inundated with these messages, and sadly, you may have heard them from Christians too. The words sound good. However, as much as they encourage and boost your confidence in yourself, they are dangerous. I repeat, they are dangerous. Why? The Trap of Believing in Yourself You, you, you. The purpose...
Can you believe we are already well into the third month of 2021? It’s been an exhausting year by just about every definition. A lot of things feel like they’ve been turned upside down and shaken up. There are so many different, pressing issues at hand that I find it difficult to know what specific needs are facing young people going into 2021. Nevertheless, regardless of how COVID-19, stay-at...
One day, Romans 8:28 popped into my mind, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” I had no idea why, but these words prepared me for something I least expected–an attack of depression and suicidal thoughts like I’d never experienced before. While I was normal and cheerful that day, the next day I...
I used to think I was someone who didn’t have control issues. That is… until the pandemic spread across the globe. I’ve heard stories of people who don’t like riding in planes because they would rather be the pilot flying the plane than be the passenger. If you would have asked me a couple of years ago if I had control issues like that, I would have said, “Nope. Definitely not.” And then COVID-19...
rebelling against low expectations
