Designated Doodler

I'm beyond concerned about the state of religion, more specifically Christianity, amongst young people in our country. As a teacher and a human being in the 20s dating pool, I've had good cause for concern. I'm not allowed to discuss religion at school, but I hear the things my students say about it. Things like, "yeah, I go to church, it's where I take my best naps." Or things like, "I wanna find a new religion, I think I'll pick buddhism because it's chill." As if the road to discovering God is something that can be picked out like a new outfit. Finding religion is a journey, one that takes research, reading and soul searching. And one reason I fear for Christianity's future is because being a faithful Christian takes time, heart and dedication. And in today's world of tech-obsessed instant gratification - people are asking, "what can God do for me?" Instead of "what can I do for God?"  Teens and...

Tonight I heard a former Muslim man named Saleem talk. Here's what happened: Saleem brought up a young man in college, he pulled out three colored scarves. One white, one red and one black. He draped the white one around his shoulders and pulled the young man in next to him, sharing the scarf. He said, "this is what God wanted when he created man. He was like a daddy that wanted children. He desired fellowship with us and we were blameless. He told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree, except for one, the tree of life. And that if they did, surely they would die." "And what did they do? They ate the fruit. And although their physical bodies didn't die in that moment, they suffered a spiritual death," Saleem said, removing his arm (and the scarf) from the young man. "And so the world fell to sin," he said, draping a black scarf over the boy. "But we were still God's children and he did not forsake us. Instead,...

Your City Most of us live in towns or cities, and whether we like where we live or not, it's important to be a prayer warrior for your city. So often we get wrapped up in prayers that involve us, or our families, or far off places that have a crushing need to be prayed for. And all of this is great! Pray for your family, pray for places like Egypt and the unreached people groups of Indonesia! It's also important however, to be a prayer warrior for your city! I live in a huge metropolitan city that is filled with people struggling with their faith, their health, their job, their life! Lift up your city in prayer, along with all of it's hospitals, schools, roadways, etc. Prayer is a very powerful thing, and when you lift these requests up to God to protect your city and help it prosper, those prayers don't go unheard! It's time that communities reach out to their city and assist in any way possible. Volunteering your time, money and/or prayers can g...

Today I went to church with my Dad. It was a great service and I learned things about David's life that I didn't know before. It was a special service and all of the kids were involved. The energy in that room was wonderful and the experience made me think about something one of my coworkers said one day at work. He said that he didn't believe people had souls. Which to date, is the saddest thing I've ever heard anyone say. I realize that it's his opinion and I respect that. But I still find it depressing that there are people who think this. In my life I have seen miracles and have "felt" my soul many times. My co worker asked me what it "felt" like and it was hard to give an answer. It feels like being plugged into an outlet. Like there is this beautiful and overwhelming energy that engulfs you. It is the most joyful and electrifying experience. It's like you're a cell phone and you don't realize it but you're battery ...

I felt inspired to write this post today to help anyone out there who knows/is friends with/is a parent of someone with anxiety. I realized today that these things I know aren't just common sense. They've come from years of dealing with anxiety myself and knowing others who have as well. So here it goes. Things to keep in mind about anxiety: Anxiety isn't as easy to control as you might think I've had people ask me in the past "well, why don't you just stop being anxious." To me, that's like asking someone who has chronic migraines to stop having migraines. What's important is to realize that anxiety is very much a physical thing. It is a response that your body has, when once started, is difficult to control or stop. An anxious person may have a racing heartbeat, sweaty hands, dry mouth, or even shake. Once the body begins this descent into anxiety it's hard to turn around. And even if the anxiety isn't yet to that point or severi...

Anxiety is more common than you may think. It is a nuisance that can alter how you live your life; it's annoying. And I've learned a few things about it that I thought I'd share with you. Survival of the Anxious A lot of people have a natural disposition towards anxiety. And guess what...it's what helped us survive! Back in the caveman days your carefree buddy would lay outside looking at the stars while you worried about lions. He'd get eaten, and you'd carry on your family line. A lot of times, we are hyper-observant of not only ourselves but our environment as well. So stop thinking of anxiety as a plague and start thinking of it as an advantage.  Is That all You've Got? Many times, people get caught in a loop of anxiety because they are afraid of anxiety itself! It is such an uncomfortable thing (sweaty palms, obsessive thoughts, racing heart, imagining the worst) so we naturally want to avoid it at all costs! But then we can become worried abo...

On nights like this, I wish I had someone I could run to. Someone I could fall apart to. Someone who would wrap me in his arms and not even try to convince me everything would be okay, because he was smart enough to know that it wouldn’t be. But who would sit there in the silence with me. “Is there a cure?” is one of the first things people ask when you tell them your father has cancer. And I hate the answer. I had a nightmare last night, one part of which involved me knowing that I was only going to live for one more day. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine what it must feel like to not be certain that you’d be around tomorrow? I experienced that feeling in a dream, for a brief amount of time. And it was an awful feeling. Yet, every night when my Dad goes to bed, he’s not sure if he’ll wake up the next day. And as I sit here with burning eyes, the most painful throbbing in my head and that familiar ache in my chest, it breaks my heart to think of how my Dad must feel. Occasionally h...