Volunteering Took Church Away From Me

Haha, I’m guessing a lot of church volunteers clicked on this post and were like, “AWW yeah, I know what’s up! Time to read the TRUTH!” haha. I tried to think of the most click-bait title I could come up with. Isn’t it annoying when people do that?! The title is only half true. Sort of. Not really. But kinda.

A Big Enough Lie

“Tell a big enough lie, and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” A. Hitler.

A chilling reminder from a man who convinced most of a country to participate in easily one of the world’s greatest tragedies.

A lie…is one of the more dangerous and destructive things that can intersect your life. The lie often starts small, almost insignificant, but given enough belief, the lie ends up foundational in our lives.

It begs the question: What lies are we feeding belief? What lies are we allowing real estate in our own minds? Who are speaking these lies to us? Co-workers? People who dislike us? Ourselves?

Promises in the Dark

I haven’t done this in years. Before this blog flooded with people reading my posts on film and TV, almost no one read it. Leaves in the Pages was a personal journal of sorts. I didn’t have a following or hundreds of regular readers every day. I kind of said whatever I wanted, cause…I could, haha. Over the years, my writing style has changed, but something that I don’t do as much anymore is talk about my personal life. I’m not talking about the people I brag on like my super sisters Nicole and Robyn, or my incredible parents Sharon and Russ. I talk about them plenty. I mean MY personal life. I just felt like I had moved past that on this blog. Today, I’m indulging that younger, beginner blogger’s style and dipping into something that I feel lead to share. A rare internal vulnerability if you will.

Laugh Christians and Take the Joke

What is it about us Christians that hold so tightly to the idea that we can’t make fun of ourselves or what we do? Growing up in the church, I was told that we shouldn’t joke about such things and that some aspects of the faith are to be off-limits/kept holy. While to this day I still think this way about some things and cringe whenever someone pokes fun at Pentecostal flag waving or if there are dancers in the aisles at a particular church, I still believe that we take ourselves MUCH too seriously.

The Rise of the “New Normal,” Christianity Explained

It’s no surprise to us that our parents grew up in a very religious time. There were practices that were followed, traditions that were kept, and certain things you did or didn’t do. For some Christians, your parents weren’t allowed to dance, gamble, or play cards. For some Christians, your parents went to church every Sunday morning growing up. For others, your parents might have had a less strict, but still religious upbringing.