Life a Weblog for Young Adults

Father’s Day is the one time a year when we set aside time to honor and thank dear ole Dad. Here’s a quick look at how American dads are stacking up these days.

Making and keeping friends isn’t always an easy task. Sometimes, you have to put a little work into it. If you’re looking for some simple ways to build genuine relationships (and keep them), try these five tips:

For most, Memorial Day is spent by the pool with family and friends and a grill. But let’s take a closer look at its history and the opportunities to honor those who gave their lives for our freedom.

It’s graduation season, when bright young students must endure one final, mind-numbing lecture before collecting their degrees: the commencement address.

This speech seldom contains advice you can actually use. The speaker often receives a generous check for his or her remarks, but dares not utter anything that might offend someone for fear of being protested, “disinvited” or blacklisted from future graduation ceremonies.

Not being a celebrity, a politician or a rich donor, I have little chance of ever being invited to deliver a commencement address, much less disinvited. But I’ll share a few practical tips for you grads anyway, at no charge:

Thousands of miles and a total of 17 different college campuses is where Chris Wheeler and the Red Bus Project interns have traveled this spring, all to spread awareness and raise money for orphan care. The Red Bus Project launched in the spring of 2012 and is the college initiative of Show Hope, which was founded by Steven and Mary Beth Chapman to provide care for orphans and funding for families to adopt children.

I watched this video and thought about the Israelites. God rescued them out of slavery in Exodus. Slavery. Then, he took them to the desert, promising them they would go to the promised land (which would be infinitely better to the people of God than Disneyland, by the way). Much like the kids in the video, though, Israel immediately began to complain. There are 15 instances in Exodus and Numbers alone where the Israelites “grumbled.” They were constantly whining about something. And just like these kids, they couldn’t stop thinking about their current struggles of being on the uncomfortable journey a little longer to focus on the incredible gift their Father had in store.

I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

Paul had these same thoughts in Romans 7 as he described the struggle between his sinful nature and the only escape from it: Jesus. I’ve certainly felt this way before. Have you?

The fact is, I want to want God. My heart desires to be drawn to His like a magnet, yet I still don’t consistently do what is right. In this way, I’m not only like my brother Paul, but I’m also like Jacob.

Welcome to the rest of your life: finding balance. I’d be lying to you if I said I had mastered this in college, or even that I’m a master of balance now. Business Insider recently posted an article about 9 things everyone should be able to do by age 30. (Personally, I think you should be able to accomplish the first 7 by the time you’re 25, if not before then.) But #9 was work/life balance. The article claimed that the key to finding balance is less about work-life balance than work-life purpose (prioritizing what’s important to you and fitting it into a composite of who you are).

“Trust me. It’s going to work out.”

Has anyone ever comforted you with that phrase? As a campus minister, there were many times when college students would swing by my office and share their anxiousness about graduation, an internship, or a relationship. And I’d point them toward that word trust, encouraging them to claim the promises found in God’s Word.

I’ve seen it happen time and time again. When we surrender control and begin to seek God for simply who He is, He then shows us something so different than we ever expected.

What does it mean to be offended by something someone does or says?

First, you need to understand your own heart. Were you hurt by what they said? Or were you offended? If someone does or says something that hurt your feelings, then you need to own that. Sometimes it’s easier to say we were offended than to say we were hurt. It’s kind of like saying “I’m frustrated” rather than “I’m angry.” Using the terms “offended” and “frustrated” allows us to save face and maintain a stronger position. But to say you were hurt or angry takes courage because it makes you vulnerable. You’re vulnerable because you got your feelings hurt.