Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
Even though I haven’t seen that many Hallmark movies, I’ve seen enough to know what all the endings will be: happily ever after. Honestly, Hallmark, you deceive so many women with your cookie-cutter romances. These five false expectations that you've given us are particularly to blame.
May is approaching so quickly, isn’t it? The day when you wear your cap and gown, reach for your diploma, and finally enter adulthood will indeed be bittersweet. Everyone tells you that college is the best time of your life and that post-college will be the worst time of your life. Perhaps the best time of your life will officially be over in approximately three months. So you panic.
You probably realize that your eating disorder not only damaged your body but also damaged your relationships. Yet you're still tempted to give into eating disorder behaviors again. My life—and perhaps yours as well—has been forever changed because I gave up everything to pursue the "perfect" body.
Friends, I know from personal experience that singleness isn't easy. It's nobody's fault that you're un-dated, un-engaged, or un-married. But patience isn't becoming easier. Instead, feelings of loneliness, disappointment, curiosity, and fear are becoming easier. What's a girl to do with these unpleasant emotions?
This poem is based on an analogy from Scripture. As the church—Christ's bride—we can live in gratitude and joy because we no longer wear darkness and shame. Just as the groom typically wears a black suit and the bride typically wears a white dress at their wedding, Christ wore black—our sin—so that we could wear white—His righteousness.
Surely, this thought has crossed your mind recently. We’re all wondering if (and hoping that) 2021 will be better than 2020. After all, 2021 can’t be any worse. It has to be better, right?
You were sure that this was going to be your year for finding true love. You were determined that you wouldn’t spend this Christmas alone. You thought you would definitely have someone to kiss under the mistletoe in 2020. But you wonder if you’ve lost your chance at finding someone to spend the rest of your life with.
You hear all the cheery greetings. You read them on cards, see them on decorations, and hear them in songs. And you feel all the emotions—both good and bad—that are attached to them.
But one thing hasn’t changed in five years: I still want to be a writer. And honestly, there's enormous hidden pressure on me to get a book deal, see my name on the front cover, and be famous. This pressure doesn’t come from my parents, sisters, or friends. It comes from my Try-Harder Self—and she’s the dogmatic, degrading, and demanding type.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 