rebelling against low expectations
It’s hard to believe it was ten years ago when Do Hard Things came out. Some of us can barely remember a time we weren’t familiar with the phrase “do hard things.” For others of us, it’s a revolutionary new concept we’ve only recently discovered and started applying to our lives. (And still others of us are ten-years familiar with it and still learning to apply it to our lives.) In any case, Do...
Have you ever felt like life was leaving you behind? We see so many stories of Rebelutionaries seeking after God, doing hard things, and changing the world. It’s amazing to see the work other young people are doing. Writing books. Graduating college early. Starting ministries. Starting businesses. All of those are good and beautiful and amazing, and we applaud and rejoice with each of them. But...
I once had this perception of college. The perception that every single college student has it all together. That while I’m still floundering, these students have their lives figured out at age eighteen. That while I contemplate and wonder if this is God’s will for my life, they somehow have the ability to know the future and every plan God has ordained for them. I would stress and feel...
“What car were you in?” He asked. “I wasn’t in a car. I was running home and wanted to offer any needed assistance,” I replied. After thanking me for stopping and returning to the phone clutched in his hand, I resumed my Garmin watch, though home was a mere three-tenths of a mile from the intersection where multiple cars collided on a sunny afternoon. Did the Holy Spirit prompt me to stop and...
Kathy Ellefson lay on the hospital bed, giving birth to her fourth child, Aaron. But she had a horrible, inexpressible feeling something was wrong. When the nurse carried the baby boy over, she said he might have Down syndrome. Mrs. Ellefson was relieved! She had thought her baby was going to die. Instead he had Down syndrome, a genetic disorder where one has an extra chromosome, causing mental...
“Breakfast!” Comes the call from downstairs. In a zombie-like state I drag myself out of bed, stumble down the stairs, and collapse into my chair, looking as if I’d just run a triathlon. Comatosely eating whatever food is set before me, I begin the long trek up the stairs and give myself forty minutes until I start my day. That’s how my days used to begin. In a state of indifference, routine...
How often do we, especially as Christian young adults, have to make big decisions? All the time. We’re beginning the transition from dependent minors to self-sustaining adults, and that requires many decisions to be made—what car to get, what job to take, what school to go to, etc. In the midst of these consequential decisions, I’m sure most of us only want to do what God wills for us...
Summer is the time when I typically slip into a slump. It’s the kind of slump which makes me avoid productive tasks, watch way too many YouTube videos, and look at political commentary far too frequently. Last year, after starting my summer off by taking the SAT and ACT tests, I completely crashed. For several weeks, I sat around being an unproductive blob. This year, I feel the temptation...
Did you know that being counter-cultural doesn’t stop when you exit your teen years and enter young adulthood? Oh no! Going against the grain of culture and the world’s expectations is a lifelong endeavor. As Christians, God calls us to be different, to stand out and stand up for what’s right– to be counter-cultural. So just because you’re no longer a teen doesn’t mean that doing hard...
Imagine yourself in the perfect place. You have a wonderful family, fabulous friends, a perfect house, a great town. You’re almost always happy. And then you find out you’re moving. What do you do? Hide? Run? I panic. I’m panicking right now. But that panic is helping me realize that my relationship with God isn’t as strong as I thought it was. I didn’t really trust him with my life. I always had...
rebelling against low expectations
