Keep Calm And Write On

(First published on viewshound.com)  It often disturbs me how much the world looks down on specific groups of people or expects less of them just because of their age or race. Take teenagers, for example. I understand that many teenagers are moody, disinterested in their families, and unwilling to work hard, and I apologize on behalf of them. But please, do not judge us all by a few sour examples. The lower your expectations of us as adolescents are, the lower we will sink to meet them. Your expectations of us will determine what we will become. If you expect us to be mature, intelligent, productive members of society, we will rise to the occasion. If on the other hand, you don’t expect us to be anything more than bums who get along with the lowest possible amount of effort and spend the majority of our time eating, sleeping and texting, well that’s what we will become. And as for you teenagers, you’re not off the hook either! The reason that our society as a whole has

(First published on viewshound.com)  My mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas earlier today, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. Sure, like anybody I harbor a secret list of the things I would like to have, but I don’t truly need any of those things. A thought hit me suddenly. I’m content with what I have. I have enough food to eat, I have nice clothes to wear, I have a comfortable bed to sleep in, I have a roof over my head, and I have a family who loves me. Why would I want anything else? My current mood of contentment brings to mind an early memory of mine. My mother and grandmother had brought me to the mall, and as we passed Santa Claus, I just knew I had to see him. I had to tell him what I wanted for Christmas. Now, even as a young girl, I hadn’t bought into the commercialism that surrounded Christmas, I knew that “old Saint Nick” was a fraud, but still, I just had to see him. As I stood in line, I trembled with anticipation. I was almost there! I was about to

Note: This was written years ago, shortly after my eighteenth birthday. Try to take it with the appropriate grain of salt. Apparently, with my recent birthday, I am expected by much of the civilized world to behave with a certain amount of responsibility and adult-ness. But how is this accomplished? How do I manage to get done every thing that I should do, as well as everything that I want to do? Well, I'm quickly learning that this is impossible. I have long been my own worst enemy, and no matter how productive I am, there's always something inside of me that gripes and insists that I could have done more, or been more, or done it better.  Quite honestly, I could never please myself. Not completely. But here's the good news, I don't have to. I only have to please God. And even God isnt mad at me for not doing enough like I am. This is because God has eternity in mind, while I am still stuck on the here and now. Is it important that my room be clean? Yes. Will it in

There are quite a few things that I "should" be writing right now, but none of them are what I feel like writing. This is one of the things that I do not like about being a writer. I have an article to write for RealTeenFaith, and I have to rewrite my last one.  I should be working on an article for Viewshound, and I should be working on my novel. But those are all what I should be doing, not what I want to be doing. The reason I write is not for the recognition, or the money. It has never been about the money. Rather, I am writing so that I can be used by God to change lives. This is why I have refused to self-publish my work.  I feel that God, in his own time, will bring about a publisher who will consider my book(s) and provide a way to reach my audience. There are a million thoughts I want to convey to my readers, but none of them will cooperate with my fingers and allow themselves to be written.  Maybe its because all during November, I kept pushing myself, a

Call me what you want. Call me an old fogey, call me a closed- minded individual, but I simply do not understand Black Friday. It has always puzzled me that America’s biggest retail holiday of the year takes place only one day after we are supposed to be counting our blessings. It seems completely nonsensical. What kind of example do you think that sets for your kids? You talk a good game on Thanksgiving, encouraging everyone to name things they are thankful for, but after dinner, when the turkey coma kicks in and claims your kids, you run to the store like your pants are on fire. All thoughts of gratitude flee your head as your eyes zero in on that must-have item of the season. Your sole objective becomes liberating the newest tech toy from the prison of your local electronics store. One must consider the holiday that actually takes precedence here, the one where we eat turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and Great-Grandma’s steel-strength pie crust for afters, or the one where we ge

  A few months ago, I was in a place of confusion and doubt. I wrestled with trusting God in the midst of my various health problems. I was in a place of "why, God?"  Something was wrong with me. I was sure Christians dealt with adversity differently than I did. I knew something needed to change in my attitude. So I posted on my youthgroup's facebook group and asked for advice. One of the leaders told me that God would bring me someone who knew my exact situation.  At the time, I wondered if that was possible. After all, the certain things I have aren't exactly common. The odds of finding someone who had not only had what I have, but had conquered it, were slim indeed.  Or I thought so.  Turns out, God isnt limited by our doubts. He led someone I greatly respect to tell me about her personal struggles with her physical health, and the number #1 thing she said to me that helped me was to get closer to God, and come to that place of total surrender and trust.

As I write this, I have about a million things on my to-do list. I believe that this is quite possibly the busiest I've ever been in my life. I'm a student, in my junior year of highschool, I'm a mentor to a sweet girl, I'm a staff writer on RTF co-owner of Refined As Gold, Chief Operating Officer of the non-profit,  Beads Of Hope I volunteer in my church's Special Need's and Preschool ministries, I'm on my youthgroup's Student Leadership Team. To say I'm busy would be the understatement of the year. Does this look like your schedule? Do you feel like you're being stretched 12 different ways, and eventually, you're just going to snap? Yes, I'm quite the busy teenager. And yes, I'm quite often stressed out.  But the secret to my elasticity is Jesus.  Quite often, when I'm getting stressed out about essays, homework, Creative Writing assignments, chores, and my various responsibilities, I will flip open m