rebelling against low expectations
The alarm clock goes off with a pleasant tune that makes me want to bury myself in the pillow rather than roll out of bed. Groggily I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling, a silent battle raging in my mind. Should I get up? Five more minutes of shut-eye can’t be that bad…or maybe ten…twenty sounds better. At this point, my carnal mind is telling me: It’s dark out. People don’t get up...
Worthless. Ugly. These thoughts dominated my mind for a long time after a painful rejection by a boy in February 2017. I have always struggled with spiritual perfectionism (as have most Christians), but this new emotion sparked a degree of physical perfectionism in me. After that incident, I hated what I saw when I looked in the mirror. Although a lot of people told me that I was beautiful, I did...
The Speech and Debate National Championship was just a few days away. As I spread all of my display boards out on our table, I began critiquing them to the utmost. Even though the judges probably wouldn’t notice any of the minute changes I made, I wanted my boards to be perfect (with a capital “P”). The more I stared at my boards, the more stressed I became– were they good...
Have you ever seen a magnificent painting? Have you ever heard of someone winning a marathon? Have you ever watched someone get a 36 on the ACT? I want to spend a little time today telling you how they did it. Vincent Van Gogh once said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” That statement is so very true. It’s the little things. There’s a...
About a month ago, I started a one-year Bible reading plan. If I stick to it, I will have read the entire Old Testament by next September. As I read through the Old Testament, I keep realizing just how crazy the Bible is. It is filled with astonishing accounts including the Creation of the earth from nothing, a worldwide flood, fire from heaven, and talking donkeys to name a few. Later in the New...
“You are not raising a child. You are raising an adult.” The minister’s potent words were ringing in my ears as I contemplated the arrival of our first child in late June. While my wife and I will be highly intentional about raising an adult, our son will be heavily dependent upon us for a substantial portion of his life. From food to clothing, toys to shelter, entertainment to transportation, he...
Boots splash through the water. Rain falls in torrents. Sweat drips from the men’s creased foreheads. Their muscles tense as they take their positions. Silently, without a move and with hardly a breath, they crouch, waiting. Their uniforms and absolute stillness hide them from the enemy’s notice. Tethered to their boots is a small metal identification tag. An identical copy dangles from each...
Our world is obsessed with this ideal of “perfection”, and making everyone as close to that ideal as possible. It’s all about being the coolest or the most popular, about making it seem like you’ve got it all together and you’ve got the most amazing life. This is stressed even more to teenagers, who are constantly striving to compare to their peers. It’s all about being like everyone else, about...
I’m a loner. I love and enjoy people, but after extended socialising I need to recharge by myself. I don’t do crowds, and love visiting with my friends one-on-one. But if no “friend time” is forthcoming, I can be perfectly fine doing my own thing for weeks on end. That doesn’t mean I don’t suffer from Empty Emotional Tank Syndrome sometimes. Or loneliness. Plenty of tears For the past two years...
We arrived at the stadium in the middle of a large field. It felt hotter than a typical Mississippi day in this small Texan town. The wind roared at 20 miles per hour—the air dry as a desert. Tumbleweed rolled across the dirt and the red oval radiated heat. I would run 25 laps with no shade and no water, but a medal for the first one who finished. I, a senior and the fastest in the field, stood...
rebelling against low expectations
