rebelling against low expectations
“Something must be wrong with me.” That’s what every guy is tempted to think when a girl turns down his request for a date. “She’s great and doesn’t like me,” we think. “Therefore, something must be wrong with me that needs to be fixed.” To our logic-oriented male brains, this is the only plausible explanation. It doesn’t make sense to us why two high caliber people couldn’t make a great couple...
In the summer of 2015, I was on my second mission trip to Uganda. We were on our way back to the U.S., and our first flight was from Uganda to Nairobi, Kenya. I remember getting on the small plane and noticing that my sister and I had seats farther away from the family we were traveling with. But that wasn’t the part that scared me the most. As we boarded, we realized that every one of the...
I was 18 years old, had just graduated from college with my BA, and was ready to take on the world. Finding a job was going to be easy. I mean, who wouldn’t want someone who was enthusiastic and could work hard? Right? Um, no. Finding a job did not turn out to be easy like I expected. On the contrary, it was hard – really hard. Yet I learned some lessons along the way that I know will help...
Wondrous. What better word to describe Jesus Christ and what God has done for us through Him? What a wondrous thought that Christ would come down to live in the flesh! What a wondrous truth that the God who created the universe would take the form of a man! What a wondrous consideration that He would live the life that we live. How wondrous is it that He would want to know the pain and suffering...
It’s quite possibly the most overused Scripture tag line: I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13). We see it on coffee mugs, as tattoos, in personal mantras, and more. We assume doing all things by Christ’s strength produces only good things or brings us success. Therefore, we find it motivating. But what if God allows us to fail instead of succeeding? Could...
“We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.” — Charles Spurgeon Who are you? If someone came up to you and asked you that question, what would you say? Are we students, writers, soccer players, or cellists? Or are we as Christians something completely, radically...
What is the secret to a happy life? Everyone’s asking, most of them subconsciously. It only takes a few seconds of looking around to see it. Hollywood wants to tell us that it’s fame, beauty, even romance. Books say it’s glory, strength, or power. Commercials and billboards insist that a certain pair of jeans or brand of makeup or fast-food restaurant will lead us to the bliss we seek. As...
I didn’t want to wait. I’d already been waiting for months! I’d had plenty of preparation already, I had prayed a lot about it, I had the time, and I was ready to do this hard thing. God had placed in me a passion and desire to start a Bible study group to disciple younger girls. It was the sort of thing that I couldn’t simply forget or push to the back of my mind, even though I tried. But then...
Literature is rarely my favorite subject because many of the books have seemed boring and difficult to understand. They appear to bear little importance to my modern-day life. However, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin has been different. While the writing style is antiquated, the stories and the lessons from Franklin’s life are timeless. Franklin was an outstanding printer, statesman...
Back in January 2017, I read an article by Marvin Olasky in WORLD Magazine entitled, “Incapable of Shame?” It contrasted the Holocaust and abortion. The article really touched my heart as it relayed a story of a man who, upon arriving at a concentration camp, said goodbye to his children. He asked a nearby guard if his children would be okay. The guard reassured him that the children...
rebelling against low expectations
