writings from Nathan Wesley Smith
Life is complicated. With all the joys and wonders of sunsets, the laughter of children and autumn leaves changing color, there are equal amounts of pain and disappointments. Each of us handle pain in a different way… some internalize it, others lash out. Regardless of our responses, the fact is we all deal with pain and we have to be …
You have a dream in your heart. At very least, you have an idea that you think would be really cool to pursue. But there’s a problem. Yes, it will cost money and take hard work, but that’s not what is keeping you from trying. The problem is that you’re not sure if it’s ok to pursue it in the …
Some people have a tendency to polarize issues and oversimplify them. I know I do. You are either right or you are wrong. You are either making smart financial decisions or you are not. You are either living according to God’s will, or you aren’t. However, the longer you live you discover there are holes in this logic that you …
Rest is offensive to our culture. As a matter of fact we even seem to parade our aversion to rest. Our most popular cities are touted as cities that ‘never sleep.’ We celebrate and market areas of ‘night life’. Our popular brands tell us to ‘just do it’ and to be ‘driven’. However, rest requires us to come to the …
Faith is messy. Religion tries to convince us that everything can fit on some sort of ‘holy spreadsheet’ and that the math is pretty straight-forward. The logic goes like this: if you pray enough, or serve enough, then you climb the rungs of ‘prayers that can now be answered.’ As you ascend higher and higher, your elite status is confirmed …
Right and wrong can be a tricky subject to navigate. I don’t mean debating the 10 Commandments or clearly defined Biblical standards of living… I’m talking about the everyday life stuff that may not have a clear, cut and dry, this way only kind of solution. As Christians we should want to please the Lord and do what is good …