Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Do Hard Things



This past weekend, my mom, my brother Ryan, and I had the privilege of attending the "Do Hard Things" conference in Gaithersburg, Maryland. First of all, I am so thankful that I was able to attend this conference, and second, I am amazed to see how the Lord is working in the lives of so many young people. Roughly 3200 people attended! Alex and Brett Harris, the twin brothers who founded The Rebelution website and lead the conferences, have a message that is applicable not only for teens, but for adults as well. Their message is simply what they stated in the video above: to encourage teens to "rebel" against the low standards society has placed on them by doing "hard things".

Alex and Brett took turns speaking during each session, and their dad, Gregg Harris, also spoke. Most of their topics came straight out of their book, Do Hard Things, so it was pretty easy to follow along with each session. I encourage everyone to read the book, but I do want to write about some of the main points from the conference.

Use Your Teenage Years

Instead of reaching our full potential to grow and learn, many young people (including myself!) sit back and let other people do the work for us. Push harder, aim higher, and do hard things.
I really like these five points that they covered through some of the sessions. They're also in the book in chapter 4, but I'll list them here.

Five Hard Things

1. Reaching outside our comfort zones (this is a tough one for me!)
2. Going beyond what is expected or required
3. Accomplishing big things alone
4. Doing things that don't earn and immediate payoff (small hard things)
5. Challenging the cultural norm

Are these hard things for any of you? They are for me! I hope and pray that I won't be so afraid to push myself to better serve God by aspiring to do all I can for Him!

So let's all do what's right...

Even when it hurts.
Even when it means ridicule.
Even when it means losing friends.
Even when it means making an unpopular stand for Christ.

Let's all challenge ourselves to make right decisions even thought they're hard to make. Christian teens are especially faced with pressure from peers to do all sorts of things they know are wrong. They also may not be respected because of their age. The main verse Brett and Alex use for the Rebelution is so fitting, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Tim. 4:12)

I want to push myself to do hard things, and by the grace of God, He will help me accomplish this every day. Thank God that there are Godly young people around the world who truly want to make a difference as well and push themselves to be all they can for Christ.

Do Hard Things
A Teenage
Rebellion
Against
Low Expectations

7 comments:

Neesie said...

What an excellent post Sara! They really do push you to do your best in everything. It brings out what we try to hide from ourselves. Things we know that we should be doing but aren't...because of our laziness.
A very motivating post indeed. :-) Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Thumbs up for this post! :) I was also blessed to be at the conference this past Saturday. It's inspiring to hear how God worked in the hearts of everyone. And those five hard things are definitely hard for me! It's so easy for me to be excited about this mindset at the conference, but taking it home and putting it into action is another (Hard) thing. Which is why I also appreciated Brett (or was it Alex? I've got brain fog) giving us a list of things to DO within the next month. Now just to do them. :)

Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Hey Sara - wow, I'm surprised you remember seeing me in that huge crowd! (It's just Hannah...I use my middle name online to help people keep me straight. lol) I wasn't one of the "official" photographers - this was actually my first bash with a borrowed SLR - but I sure did have fun snapping away where I could! :)

Glad you got a kick out of the video - that was the point! The guys did messages for my blog last year at the Indy conference (posts under Sept. 2007), so I guess we're making it a tradition.

Brett told me that they will be having conferences again next year, but not quite as many. So I hope one of them is close enough for both of us to attend, Lord willing!

Anonymous said...

P.S. I forgot to add that I love the name of your blog! :)

Neesie said...

I know! I guess that means you were just meant to be a photographer!

Anonymous said...

Hey Sarah,
You've been awarded the "Kindred Spirit Award" at my blog. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement! You are a true kindred spirit.
God bless you!

Kaysie

Brianna said...

Hi Sarah! Thanks for your comment...
Probably two of the hardest "hard" things for me to do are stepping outside of my comfort zone and going beyond what's required...
Thank you Lord for your Word, and for Your strength and wisdom!! It's a good thing He's there to help me do hard things...or else I'd be a mess! :-)I could NEVER do hard things (in the right way for the right reasons) without Him!!
Brianna