this isn't high school

I know what I want to be when I grow up

Growing up, I was always told I could be anything I want to be. As a millennial, that was what our parents told us, our teachers told us, and what society told us.

Work hard and you can be anything you want to be.

And I believed it! I still do in fact.

I’m 33 years old and in my working life, I’ve worked in college athletics. I’ve been on staff at a church. I’ve started and built my own business.…

What it feels like when you lose a parent

Nothing will ever prepare you for losing a parent. I’m releasing this episode on Mother’s Day for all those who have lost their mom and are wondering if anyone knows what they’re going through today. In this episode, we look back a little over a year after my mom died and talk about all the different feelings you go through as your parent gets sick, when they die, and what it’s like after.

The unsexy side of following Jesus

One of the things we romanticize in the Christian world is following wherever God leads you. But what we don’t talk about is that following Jesus anywhere is really freaking scary. It often leads to loneliness, doubt, and a lot of suck. So is it even worth it to say yes to what Jesus invites us to?

Do our emotions lie to us? Or are we bad at understanding them?

Our minds create toxic environments that trick us into believing things that aren’t true. While our emotions and feelings are completely real, the way we interpret them may not be healthy or even correct.

The blog turns ten. Let’s start a podcast!

Today is the 10th birthday of This Isn’t High School. I published the first post on March 28, 2009 and didn’t look back.

Until people stopped reading blogs.

Then I looked back and stopped writing.

But now people love podcasts.

And I really enjoy making podcasts.

So we’re going to turn This Isn’t High School into a podcast.

The first official episode drops Monday, April 22, but…

On addiction, grace, and Demi Lovato

I don’t write much anymore. But when I did write a lot, one of my favorite things to do was take pieces of pop culture and see where and how they intersect with the Gospel.

Yesterday, after almost crying in a gas station parking lot, I knew I had to write again, if only for this one post.

That’s right: a song from Demi Lovato had me all up in my feelings outside of a Weigels.

Many of you, when…

I want to give stuff away and need your help to do it

In the fall of 2014 I was walking the dog. As I walked up the back part of my neighborhood that night at sunset, a thought popped in my head:

What would it look like it to be a designer for the global church instead of just one local church?

That thought is what ultimately was the inspiration to become a full-time freelancer. Since starting my business in January 2015, I’ve been able to work with…

When I was 11, I was 5'8 and 168 pounds. I was a big kid. But I thought I was fat. Then I got fat. Here's that story.

Growing up I was always big. When I signed up to play football in seventh grade, I had to get a physical before practice started. At the age of 11, I started the season at 5’8 and 168 pounds. By the end of the season I’d gain an inch and 12 pounds.

I don’t know why I remember that.

When I started high school two years later I was six feet tall and over 200 pounds. I also wore a size 13 shoe.

I…

Has your best friend ever looked you in the eye and told you you’re “just so G– damned depressed all the time”?

Has your grandma ever looked at you and said she was worried about you because you weren’t smiling?

Have your friends ever stopped inviting you to things because you simply weren’t any fun to be around anymore?

Those things all happened to me within a three month span my first year of…

I’m a Christian. I make no bones about that and hide that from no one. I went to the world’s largest Christian university and have two different degrees from there. I worked on staff at a church for 4.5 years. Now that I own my own business, almost 70% of my work is with churches.

I love me some Jesus.

But there are some parts of following him that I don’t particularly like.

I don’t like adhering…