Do Hard Things

Well we just got back from the FPEA homeschool convention in Orlando. It was so great! I had a awesome time. Josh and I went to the Summit Teen Track. It was fun, we had a nice time listening to all of the lectures. Graham and Lyndsey went to the kids program on Friday but didn't have a very good time so they spent their day with mom and dad on Saturday. We arrived at the convention on Thursday afternoon and left this morning to come home. It took us a lot longer than it should have to because I wanted to stop at every bookstore between here and Orlando! :D I get ten points per bookstore picture for the Beyond the Reflection's Edge contest and I need points.


Now onto the main point of this post. While at the convention my mom picked up a book she has wanted us to read for a while. It is called Do Hard Things and is written by teenagers, Alex and Brett Harris. (Their father, Gregg Harris, was the keynote speaker at the convention.) They are twins, age 19, and founded TheRebelution .com in 2005. These two young men challenge teens to embrace their full potential by doing hard things for God through their "Rebellion Against Low Expectations". I really encourage you to check out their website and book. You don't want to miss the movement these two are leading.



I first heard about The Rebelution in 2006. Joining the forum I got really into the whole thing as my first real introduction to message forums and blogs. I was really excited when the Modesty Survey was published and I loved reading the discussions I found. Sadly, it didn't last. I became involved in some other, though not bad, not very productive online activities, and when Alex and Brett changed up their system, requiring members to do a few simple things (I can't even remember what now!) in order to keep their username on The Rebelution I didn't even bother. It's not that I didn't enjoy their website, or that I disliked it, I just had more interest in online games than I did in life-changing encouragement. You are all screaming "wrong choice", only now am I agreeing with you. So that is how I came to find out about, and than forget about TheRebelution. Recently my mom has helped me "re-discover" the forgotten website and when she bought the book I consumed it.

So now I understand the importance, the challenge, the joy of doing hard things. The message of the book really convicted me. I saw just how much I am lacking in so many important areas, I've made a goal to change. Starting now.

After reading through the book, Do Hard Things, I decided to use the advice mentioned in the last chapter. I decided to make a five-step rebelutionary action plan. It is my hope to start by working out the "small hard things" in my life and then moving on to do some "big hard things" for and through my Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is my first, five-step rebelutionary action plan.

* Start getting up at 6:00am so I can spend a half hour with my Savior every morning.
* Start talking with my parents more about my struggle with self-esteem. Discuss with them my dream to start doing "big hard things", possible to even start some kind of ministry that fights abortion, sexual slavery, and euthanasia.
* Making a real point to spend individual time with each of my siblings on a regular basis.
* Becoming more reliable in areas like chores, school(math), and physical activities. Ask mom to give me more household responsibilities, talk to dad about a exercise schedule, and discuss with both parents a good summer list to help me finish some overdue math, and to work on completing my writing project, and reading some deep, thought-provoking books.
* Building confidence and boldly expanding my comfort-zone, so I can learn to smoothly and articulately spread the good news of the Cross that saves.



Maybe some of the things on my list don't seem to fit under hard things, but I am queen of procrastination, lady of compromise, and the leader in in inconsistency. So for me this list is a start.

Please pray for me as a work through the hard things in my life, and please pray for all of the young people all over the world doing hard things. Pray for the ones in pain, pray for those who are trying to make it through the trails in their lives, the seemingly endless valleys. Pray for my own doubts, fears, and struggle with self-esteem and worth, and pray for people all over the world trying to work through their own hardships in these and other areas. Pray for the little ones, for the least and the greatest. Pray for friends, and enemies. Pray for the world we live in. Pray for The Rebelution.