Diary of an Underachieving Churchgirl

Standing on the "wrong" side of the culture is not easy. Sometimes I would rather go to my bed and pull the covers over my head than get into another facebook discussion about transgenderism, sexual morality, religion in schools, or abortion. But here we are, friends. This is the time and place in which we live. There are ideas worth defending to the death. There are hills worth dying on. I throw myself at the feet of God who is holy and all-knowing. Because I can't go into this fight for the truth with love without Him providing it. It's not my fight. It's His. It's not my love. It's His. Let us not be afraid of fellow humans' displeasure at us. Jesus said the most they can do to us is destroy our bodies. He said the One we should truly fear is the God who can destroy our very souls. This is hard. It's hard because it hurts. Having people believe me to be hate-filled and repugnant hurts. Sometimes I feel like I explain and explain and ex...

They want to change our kids’ textbooks to recognize notable LGBT people. Here’s the problem: the people in charge of buying textbooks for our nation’s government schools view the current homosexual and transgender movement as the same or similar to the women’s movement and the civil rights movement of the last century. They see a victimized group possessing immutable qualities that restrict them from just treatment, and they want to correct this injustice by inserting a new rainbow-colored lens for our nation’s children to look through when reading their history textbooks. Nice, right? Not quite. The trouble is, this view of the LGBT movement as equal to other notable movements in history is not based on reality. The truth is, individuals who are same-sex attracted or who experience debilitating gender dysphoria have choices to make, unlike women who are born women and therefore have no choice in the matter, or black people who are born black and have no choice in the matte...

"Mom, what if I fail at life?" --asked by my 11 year old son in the car on the way to school this morning. What if I fail at life. Oh, how I long to take this child up in my arms like I did when he was only four years old, and hold him and hug him and kiss him, cradle him and stroke his face and tell him, "Child, child. You are loved. You are a treasure. You are enough. God will hold you in the palm of His mighty hand all the days of your life..." But he's a fifth grader now, and he's jumping out of the car and on his way to class, and this being a mom of a fifth grader gig is no walk in the park. "Life is hard. Some people give up. But, never give up. Never say die. Always fight." I knew the words were lame the moment they came out of my mouth. How do you answer such a question? Life isn't a test you have to pass. Life is not proving yourself. Life isn't a competition to see who makes it to the finish line and who sets up a ...

All eyes were on Rocklin, California on Monday, September 18, as parents and protesters gathered at a school board meeting to decide on some ground rules moving forward. After a kindergarten teacher read two books promoting transgenderism in children to her class last year at Rocklin Academy, and then orchestrated a trans boy's "reveal," as you can imagine, the 5-year olds were confused by this and afraid, and their parents were horrified that they had not been alerted to the discussion beforehand. Unfortunately, no change will be made regarding how Rocklin Academy handles the subject of transgenderism in their school. Parents will not be notified when instruction on the topic occurs, nor will they be offered the option of opting their child out of such instruction. This same brand of tyranny is coming to a school near you soon, if it isn't already there. Like Rocklin Academy, parents' wishes will be disregarded in your child's school, too. There are sc...

An important message from Melinda Penner, Executive Director at Stand to Reason: Every Christian needs to be able to explain what religious liberty is and why it’s important. It’s ironic that this country traces its origins to people seeking a place for religious freedom and fleeing governments that dictated how they could practice their religious convictions. It’s ironic because we’re at a place in U.S. history where religious liberty is being redefined and isn’t valued, despite being the first freedom protected in our Constitution. It’s being redefined as freedom to worship and believe what we wish, but not to live out those convictions in the public square, in our daily lives. That’s a radical redefinition because the fundamental principle of religion is finding what’s true about the world, and that informs our significance and guides how we live. Relativism and a new definition of pluralism have led many to believe that religion is a personal preference like ice cream fla...

Today, I am devastated. When I left my church because my pastor's beliefs about homosexuality are incompatible with scripture, did I hurt people? Did I leave people behind? I wonder if my gay friends still consider me a friend to them, or an enemy. From a chance encounter I had today, I can only assume they still love me; they still consider me a friend, but a friend on the periphery, not the inner circle. That was my choice. Can I live with it? When I consider the faces, the friends, I have cut off from my life by leaving my church, all I can conclude by the shame and pain and longing in my heart is that it's possible I was not the only one hurt by my departure. And this grieves me deeply. When I left my church, should I have said good-bye? Should I have tried to explain why? Is it possible for me to remain friends with the dear ones I know who have chosen to stay? How can I do that? It's funny. My gay Christian friends are no doubt praying just as hard fo...