Standing Strong

My family and I have visited many churches over the years, so we have seen how several different denominations hold their services. Some of these churches have either been all for the prosperity gospel, or very much against it - that we should live as poor people like Jesus did.  In one particular church that we had been attending for quite some time, my family and I witnessed several situations that were very concerning to us. In the youth group, I remember everyone going around the room, saying what they were "believing" for. But the things they were believing for - every one of them was material possessions. When it got to my turn, I just kinda blurted out that I was believing for a piano. It was honestly the first thing I could think of at the moment, and I didn't want to look stupid in front of all these teens. Well, when you're afraid you're going to look stupid, oftentimes people pick up on that and decide to dig.  "Do you have a verse you...

It's hard to stand strong in your faith when other people persecute you for firmly believing in something. My parents, my four younger siblings, and I have experienced this quite a bit with homeschooling.  There has been numerous people who have put us down for homeschooling, whether they realize they're doing it or not. Sometimes the smallest things people say end up being something that the person they're saying it to will remember forever, and could hurt them deeply. In a situation my brother, sister, and I were in, someone said to us in front of other people, "You guys probably only do like 2 hours of schoolwork." That made me frustrated, because it was not the truth. I spoke up, almost without really thinking about what I was doing. I told them that we don't just do a small amount of schoolwork, that we go well into the afternoon.  Even though that person said they were only joking and that they were sorry, I most likely won't forget what they...