Conversation with High Schooler

Me: I think you would really like Northwestern! Are you thinking about applying?

Girl: No, I just don't want to go there. This kid in my high school got in pre-med to go straight into medschool.

Me: What's wrong with that?

Girl: He's just really into himself.

Me: Well the admissions people can't tell that. They probably think it's confidence. If he acted like a jerk to them, they wouldn't take him unless he's brilliant I guess. But not everyone is like that! I made so many awesome friends.

Girl: Yeah he's confident. He wants to be a gynocologist. And he delivered babies in India before his junior year.

Me: Yeah not everyone is like that...I never delivered babies...Gosh delivered babies in India? Don't ya hate kids like that?

Things Only Theatre People Say

"Dang, I've got to go get shot now."

"Man, I gotta go get that guys dead baby!"

"Did ya take Grandpa out of the grave?"

"Oh no he's totally not going to marry her. He's secretly gay."

"Do ya got soup or milk?" How about super milk!

Failure

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: but it is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill

Overcoming discouragement in the face of failure can be difficult.  There are many routes we can choose if we fail: 1) laugh it off and think it's not a big deal 2) recognize the gravity of letting others down & apologize 3) repent and reflect on how to change

I like the third option. Forgetting what lies behind and seeing what lies ahead.  

I've spent a great deal of energy trying to prevent failures. It never works.  Somehow I always find myself doing something not quite right, or ruffling feathers, or receiving frustrated complaints (for example while compiling a script from journals at 5am before class the next day).

But I've gotta ask myself, what's the point? What's the point of worrying so much about failure?

There is only one person who never failed.  What is amazing about Christ is that he followed through with the most difficult promise-sacrificing his life!  And because he never failed, his life makes us trustworthy. We are trustworthy to God! He can include us in his plan for redemption even though we will fail, oh we certainly will.

I struggle with failure because it's important to me not to disappoint others, and especially not to make others feel uncared for.  But I fail at this all the time!!!  Knowing grace is such a good thing, he sets me free to look ahead to Him. He sets me free to change.

What Matters

Listening to these songs, what really matters in this world surfaces. Sometimes it seems like those bad days at work, or those never ending mistakes, or that habit you're kicking yourself for are inescapable, and you'll never get it right.

But who does?

We can all throw our hands down and laugh at ourselves, because in the grand scheme none of the silly little choices really matter.  What seems to matter now will not matter so much 5 years from now, and what matters 5 years from now will not matter so much in the years when death draws near.

What really matters?
If life is about Christ, then living to share Christ is ALL that matters.
How easy to forget this!
But how freeing to know this!

If he is all that matters, then everything is always okay.
Someday, those who love him will stand before his throne lifting voices in worship
an endless sea of people
from all centuries
from all cultures
from the ends of the earth
praising the Hosanna

New

So there's this idea that once you come to know Christ, he makes you a new person.

But what does that look like?

Every moment we have an array of choices. Is knowing Christ making a choice unlike choices made before? How do we even gain the capacity to choose differently?

Each day we have moments to be the person we want to be. Reflection is key to living the life we want.  We must reflect on who we are, how others perceive us, and how we want to interact with others in order to decide yes this is me, or no I will be somehow different.  I think we do have choice in the way we live life-yes there's the nurture vs nature concept that we are products of our environments and genes- but are we really?  Reflection and agency enable us to become new.  But with Christ, there's a third enabler. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us to deny the impulsive, sinful choice and enact the Christ-like choice. But what a daily battle this is!!! A daily journey of becoming new.

You Are Worthy

This encapsulates everything I want to proclaim to young women.
"Regardless of who you think you are, you deserve someone who would give a life for you."

We are daughters of the King. Powerful. Beautiful. Lovely. Worthy.

Maybe the question to ask isn't "What Makes me Worthy?" but instead "Who Makes me Worthy?"

Zephaniah 3:17

¹⁷ The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.

Women's Empowerment

I am so excited to be an advocate for women's rights.

Here's a quote from Half the Sky:

"Empowerment is a cliche in the aid community, but it is truly what is needed. The first step toward justice is to transform that culture of female docility and subservience, so that women themselves become more assertive and demanding. As we said earlier, that is, of course, easy for outsiders like us to say: We're not the ones who run horrible risks for speaking up. But when a woman does stand up, it's imperative that outsiders champion her; we also must nurture institutions to protect such people. Sometimes we may even need to  provide asylum for those whose lives are in danger. More broadly, the single most important way to encourage women and girls to stand up for their rights is education, and we can do far more to promote universal education in poor countries. (53)

Boo yah!!!!