We’ve all dreamt of doing something crazy and chasing after the big thing we’ve always wanted. But most of us never have the chance to do it. This week we talk to someone who made the leap, went viral in the process, and what he is learning through it all.
What it feels like when you lose a parent
Nothing will ever prepare you for losing a parent. I’m releasing this episode on Mother’s Day for all those who have lost their mom and are wondering if anyone knows what they’re going through today. In this episode, we look back a little over a year after my mom died and talk about all the different feelings you go through as your parent gets sick, when they die, and what it’s like after.
The unsexy side of following Jesus
One of the things we romanticize in the Christian world is following wherever God leads you. But what we don’t talk about is that following Jesus anywhere is really freaking scary. It often leads to loneliness, doubt, and a lot of suck. So is it even worth it to say yes to what Jesus invites us to?
Do our emotions lie to us? Or are we bad at understanding them?
Our minds create toxic environments that trick us into believing things that aren’t true. While our emotions and feelings are completely real, the way we interpret them may not be healthy or even correct.
My baggage makes it hard to follow Jesus
It was a lot easier to follow Jesus when we were kids. As adults, we lose the child like faith we once had and are now held back by the baggage we’ve gained growing up. Whether it’s misunderstanding what we thought God was inviting us to do or recovering from being hurt by fellow Christians, being a Christian as an adult is a lot harder than it was when we were kids.
On addiction, grace, and Demi Lovato
I don’t write much anymore. But when I did write a lot, one of my favorite things to do was take pieces of pop culture and see where and how they intersect with the Gospel. Yesterday, after almost crying in a gas station parking lot, I knew I had to write again, if only for this one post. That’s right: a song from Demi Lovato had me all up in my feelings outside of a Weigels. Many of you, when you hear the name Demi Lovato, you think one of three things: 1. The girl from Camp Rock 2. That pop singer on the radio 3. Who?! Demi Lovato is 25-year-old singer and actress who is a former child star. After getting famous at such a young age, she – like many child stars – developed a dependency on alcohol and drugs. She eventually ended up in rehab and celebrated…
The story of a fat kid; or how you are what you think you are
Growing up I was always big. When I signed up to play football in seventh grade, I had to get a physical before practice started. At the age of 11, I started the season at 5’8 and 168 pounds. By the end of the season I’d gain an inch and 12 pounds. I don’t know why I remember that. When I started high school two years later I was six feet tall and over 200 pounds. I also wore a size 13 shoe. I wasn’t a fat kid. I was a big kid. The problem was I thought I was fat. Because I’d always been called “big guy” or other versions of that, I took it as “fat guy” even though no one ever called me fat. This was just my own personal insecurity. While other people saw big, I saw fat. I started gaining weight the summer before my…
On teenagers, depression, and growing up; or five ways the Church can help prevent teenage suicide
Has your best friend ever looked you in the eye and told you you’re “just so G– damned depressed all the time”? Has your grandma ever looked at you and said she was worried about you because you weren’t smiling? Have your friends ever stopped inviting you to things because you simply weren’t any fun to be around anymore? Those things all happened to me within a three month span my first year of seminary. A few months earlier, over the course of a weekend, I lost the job I loved, got dumped by the girl I loved, and got in an ATV wreck where I flipped over the handlebars without a helmet. Oh, and I was starting grad school working in a program that I ended up hating. It wasn’t a fun time. The whole thing led to a downward spiral of depression. The only thing is I didn’t…
Seven things I don’t like about following Jesus
I’m a Christian. I make no bones about that and hide that from no one. I went to the world’s largest Christian university and have two different degrees from there. I worked on staff at a church for 4.5 years. Now that I own my own business, almost 70% of my work is with churches. I love me some Jesus. But there are some parts of following him that I don’t particularly like. I don’t like adhering to an absolute truth. I get why non-Christian thinkers love the idea of a “personal truth”. I would love nothing more than to determine my own right and wrong or set my own scale of morality. I don’t like that marriage is between one man and one woman. I know what God’s design for marriage is. I understand why it’s like that. But I also understand that love is love and some people end up…