When You’ve Already Had a Conversion, and you make mistakes
When I was a freshman in college, I was realizing how close God actually was to me, and that He actually wanted to move in my life. I had come off of a summer working on mission at a summer camp, and I was READY for revival.
And, it got kind of unhealthy.
If not me, then who?
I want to be one of the men who runs into the chaos. I want to be a man of valor.
I want to be a hero.
A Mental Health Journey
Almost exactly four years ago, I was sitting on my bedroom floor sobbing.
I was in an extraordinarily emotionally draining, entry level job just a few months after college graduation. After only a few weeks on the job, I felt like I was about to either implode or explode.
Who’s your hero?
Who is your hero?
Growing up, I heard this question every now and again at school assemblies, from coaches, my church group, my own parents. When asked, “Who is your hero?” my younger self never quite knew how to respond.
“Who is my hero? There’s got to be someone, Lucas.”
Offer It Up
My alarm goes off at 6 am, waking me before the sun has a chance to warm the frigid river air that bites at me as I hurry to make the 7:15 Mass on time. I stumble through the Mass parts in German, holding back tears because everything feels so foreign. Afterward, I run to my German school down the street.
God is not American
Oh, but how we make Him so in our prayers. Oh, how He functions based in the constraints of what we know in our minds. Sure, God meets us where we are. Sure, God the Father is the source of our very image and as the maker of our soul knows our every circumstance and allows us to create limited images of Him in our limited minds, but, I’ll say it louder – God is not American.
Flay our Hearts Alive
I live what is, at times, a lonely and overwhelming lifestyle. My husband is in the Army, and while we have three children to keep me company while he is away, there is a blaring difference between being alone and being lonely.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Tax Season - Part 1
It was Ben Franklin who said that only two things are certain: death and taxes. We spend a lot of time here at Seeking Excellence preparing our souls for the first, but with the July 15th deadline for personal income tax returns coming up soon, let’s spend some time talking about the second.
If Only Life Was Black and White Like me - Part 3
A three-part series of open letters from a biracial man to a hurting nation. This is part three. To my dear fellow Christians, I didn’t sign up for this. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Do you ever feel like this? Like things are just wildly overwhelming and unfair?
If Only Life we’re black and White Like Me, Part 2
This is part two. To my dear black family and friends, It has been an emotional last two weeks for me. I can’t even lie, I tried to just avoid all this at first. I was so caught up with work, my new ministry, and personal life that I didn’t want to dedicate time to addressing this problem.
Time To Rise
Wake up sleeper,
Rise from the Dead,
And Christ will shine on you.
This past week, I was reading through Ephesians. It’s one of my go to reads for a quick, humbling, lay-it-all-on-the table reflection session. Ephesians, a letter from St. Paul, [debatably] written in Ephesus, is an instruction manual in many things.
If Only Life Was Black and White Like Me - Part 1
A three-part series of open letters from a biracial man to a hurting nation To my dear white family and friends, as you well know, this is an incredibly trying time for our nation. Who would have thought we would exit the fear-filled mysteriousness of a worldwide pandemic right into this societal hurricane of nationwide racial tension?
Memento Mori
Isn’t it interesting that, time and time again, death comes as a surprise? One could argue that it’s really the only guaranteed thing in life; the death rate for humans is 100%. We all know it’s coming, but we still manage to take most days for granted.
The Deadliest Poison, Pt. 2
Last week, I introduced and reflected on one of my all-time heroes, St. Maximillian Kolbe. He was, and is, the epitome of a warrior for Christ. If you don't know his story, I recommend reading part 1 before going forward. St. Maximillian Kolbe, amidst his own suffering, preached about the problem with indifference.
The Deadliest Poison, Part 1
One of my heroes was born on January 8th, 1894 in the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. He received a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary when he was only 12 years old, during which she predicted that he would persevere in purity and become a martyr for our Faith.
Do Not Disturb
I almost always keep my iPhone on “do not disturb” mode. I’m easily distracted, so it helps guard my mind from the unending notifications coming from text messages, ESPN updates, news headlines, and the like. Luckily, though, Apple Inc. also gives me the option of putting contacts in my “Favorites,” allowing their calls to come through even when I’m on “do not disturb.”
Mic’d Up, Part 2
Last week, I shared a story about talking out loud to myself, and realizing I was still wearing a clip-on microphone. I reflected on our inclination, as Christians and as people, to hide our internal dialogue and remain anonymous.
The Growth Mindset
As I have mentioned earlier, one of my biggest objections to joining the Honors Program was that I didn’t see enough value added to counteract the decrease in test scores and GPA that was sure to follow in these harder classes. I made this assumption because, after all, I was not in honors or advanced classes in high school. In my mind, if I couldn’t do it then, why would I be able to succeed in these classes now?
