rebelling against low expectations
What if there was a place that could help you relieve some of the fears and stresses of growing up? A place that could show you how to do “grown up” activities and give you the tools for adult life? A place that could teach you how to interact with a lot of different people and give you certain social etiquettes? Well there is. It’s a place looked at by teenagers as a prison...
Last week, I began feeling extreme conviction concerning the amount of time I was spending daily on my iPod touch. After lots of prayer, it was clear that technology had become an obvious obstacle in my life as a Christian. And so, I decided to go on what I consider a “modern fast.” Giving up something that is important to me and difficult to surrender, but exchanging it for more time...
Why is it that we teens seem plagued with restlessness? More so than other age groups, teens especially feel like they’re living in a transition stage — and they want out. I can relate. Sometimes we get caught in this horrible trap of longing so much to “grow up” that we forget to find joy right now. But perhaps the restlessness is good. C.S. Lewis once said, “If I find in...
I don’t know about you, but it is easier for me to believe in God than it is to believe God loves me. This hesitation to rest in His love causes me to live under a constant pressure to perform — to prove myself to God and to others. But Christ came as a mediator between God and man to reconcile us to the Father and take away that pressure to perform. Every day I must remind myself that God the...
Some nights, I go out into the whispering basin of our meadow and stargaze. The meadow our house was built in is surrounded by brushy woodland, but through the opening where the trees claw at the air, the stars show impressively in our dark rural skies. It’s mostly a summer activity, since neither I nor my telescope lenses and mirrors appreciate violently cold temperatures. My telescope has...
Last fall, I had to make a decision. Being the first year after my Mom’s fatal car accident made 2013 one of the toughest years of my life, as you could imagine. When grieving loss such as the death of a loved one, or even a lost career, a divorce, a cross-country move, chronic or terminal illness or any kind of major loss or change, the regular pains of life intensify. Last year my family and I...
(Boston Globe) — Sometimes, the world can seem overwhelming. Overbearing. If only you were tiny enough to build a house out of cards and climb inside, or escape to a miniature treehouse suspended between stalks of broccoli. Or better yet, just fly away. Fold a giant paper airplane, then grasp its thin fuselage for dear life and sail across a field into summertime. Such is Zev Hoover’s fanciful...
(The Star) — Ann Makosinski was thrilled with 200 views for her YouTube video showing how she created a flashlight powered by the heat of her hand. But after the teen was chosen as the sole representative from Canada at Google’s upcoming international science fair, views shot up to over one million. “It’s a big shock for me. I did not expect my project to get this far,” the 15-year-old Victoria...
I am young enough to have been born around the time that video game consoles for the home began to become popular. We had a Sega Megadrive at home, and I played Sonic the Hedgehog with my Dad — those were fun times. Over the last 20 years, the kind of content and quality of video games has changed dramatically. Modern game releases are filled with complex story lines, engaging characters and —...
As digital technology becomes more embedded in our culture, the need to discuss how it is shaping our lives increases. That is why this lecture, delivered Dr. Felicia Song on the campus of Cornell University, is so important. Dr. Song is a sociologist, a Yale graduate, and a Christian. In this 30-minute lecture, she focuses on how Facebook and other technologies impact friendship and community...
rebelling against low expectations
