The success of any speech depends on how fiercely the audience is compelled to action.
Speech Writer. Creative Director.
A speech about inclusion and diversity for middle school students that were facing intense issues at school in the Southeast.
Speech writer. Ghost writer. Workbook development.
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Let’s pause for a minute to talk about how we can all relate to Hannah and how she had to be feeling. Since you’re all here, you aren’t feeling worthless, inadequate, powerless or shameful because you don’t have kids. But I know you’ve felt these things. And if you’re anything like me, you feel them ALL THE TIME as a mom.
Worthless: on the days you throw them in front of the TV or ipad and order takeout… When the post-partum cloud won’t let you enjoy your newborn.
Inadequate: When you don’t know how to get them to stop crying. When you can’t help them with their math homework. When they brush off your relationship advice because “you just don’t know what it’s like to be a teenager these days”
Powerless: No day is yours. It completely revolves around your children. You’re the taxi driver, lunch lady. Or they just won’t obey and you can’t gain control of the day. They can’t sleep through the night or learn how to use the potty.
Ashamed: They fail that test. You yell at them. They talk back to you in front of your in-laws. You have to visit the principal’s office again. They make a terrible, potentially life-altering decision that you think reflects on your parenting.
See, you’re more like Hannah than you thought! For Hannah, her dreams for her life weren’t at all matching up to reality.
And I know we all can resonate with that feeling. Your dreams as a mom…wife…woman…friend..might not be living up to reality. They rarely do.
Maybe you dreamt of…
• being a stay at home mom and you’re having to work to support your family.
• having a daughter and you only have sons.
• your spouse being more involved.
• your child not having a disability.
• fun, easy vacations.
So, when our dreams don’t match up to our reality, what do we do? When we think God has said no, or maybe forgotten about us, how do we respond? When our heart HURTS because we feel pressed down on every side, how do we persevere?
Speech Writer. Producer.
Of all the amazing things in the world, humans are the most remarkable. Middle school students need to know that who they are and who they are becoming is remarkable.
Speech Writer. Researcher.
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If you want to be different, you have to think different.
When you think differently, when you renew your mind, you are physically rewiring your brain. It’s tough to rewire a computer or a home. Rewiring your brain can be even tougher. But the payoff, I promise you, is worth every ounce of effort.
If you are renewing your mind, you are creating footprints that eventually turn into ditches. Those ditches become valleys, which grow to the depths of the Grand Canyon. And you’ll find out that as you create a habit of renewing your mind, your life will be different now and later.
You’ll see over time that it’s easier to think differently, and do differently, and then you find that you are different.
You don’t fall into the same bad habits like looking at porn to find satisfaction.
You don’t drink to avoid the pain.
You don’t watch hours of Netflix to stop thinking about hurting yourself.
Instead of hooking up with that same person, you find yourself not needing the security from sleeping together.
When you renew your mind with truth, you are more secure in who you are, what you think, and how your life is going. You’ll find that by thinking differently, YOU are different.
[BOTTOM LINE] Being different demands thinking different.