(First published by me on Jewels of Jesus in June 2014)
Do Hard things: a teenage rebellion against low expectations.
“Most people don’t expect you to understand what we’re going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don’t expect you to care. And even if you care, they don’t expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don’t expect it to last. We do.” – Alex and Brett Harris
This is one of my favourite books for young people! Do Hard Things is all about challenging the ‘teens’ in today’s culture to see that there is more to life than friends and video games. Rather, the teen years are the “launching pad of life.”
It’s about what you do after you’ve become a Christian. Your heart has changed, and so must your life.
There are five kinds of hard things:
- Things that take you out of your comfort zone
- Things that go above what is expected or required
- Things that are too big to accomplish alone
- Things that don’t earn an immediate payoff
- Things that challenge the cultural norm
I like this book because it is practical as well as being about the history of adolescence. There are a lot of books that talk about feelings, or relationships, but Alex and Brett have taken the challenge and written this one. They’ve also written Start Here, a follow-up book about how others are doing hard things, and just how you can get started and join them.
I think every Christian young adult should read this book, because that’s who it’s written for – a whole generation willing to serve God above themselves.
Serving With Joy 