All tagged Fighting On

Gideon Part 1: Arise, Mighty Warrior!

Gideon Part 1: Arise, Mighty Warrior!

Nathan Westwick
Gideon, Overcoming Fears

Imagine living in an agricultural society, working hard to grow crops to feed your family, only to have those crops stolen again and again, with your family left to go hungry. Understandably, this would wear on a person, and you would likely rise up in anger, seeking to enact justice on those who are stealing from you.

But imagine that those stealing from you are much more powerful, much more forceful, and any time someone tries to speak up or fight for their rights, they get squashed so that the rest of the community will get the message and fall back in line.

This is the environment Gideon grew up in.

His solution? He hid.

Facing Each Day Anew

Facing Each Day Anew

Nathan Westwick
Faith, Fighting for What's Good, Overcoming Fears

It’s been one of those stretches where things have just been… heavy.

You know, when you feel like you’re rolling a big boulder uphill in every aspect of your life. Over the past few weeks, I’ve just had one of those stretches where it seems like everything takes considerable effort, and despite that effort, everything still goes backwards. Pair that with the physical exhaustion that invariably accompanies seasons of stress, and you’ve got a compound effect that can feel more than a bit overwhelming.

The Journey of Healing

The Journey of Healing

Nathan Westwick
Fighting for What's Good, Overcoming Fears, Life Abundant, Relationships, The Journey, The Stuff That Matters

I hopped on my road bike yesterday for the first time in about a year.

The last time I rode it was shortly before I ruptured my Achilles – an injury that is nearly a year in the recovery process, and still not where I would like it to be.

Now, full disclosure, the picture shown above was taken during my glory days on that bike. She and I (the bike, that is) would travel all over the local roads together, climbing mountains, enjoying views, speeding down descents. That bike and I have enjoyed thousands and thousands of miles of blissful togetherness.

And then, with one loud snap of the Achilles, it all came to a screeching halt.

Standing in the Face of Fear

Standing in the Face of Fear

Nathan Westwick
Overcoming Fears, Good vs. Evil

It is in places like these where I feel God’s strong presence – perhaps because it is in that tension between peace and violence that God seems to exist most tangibly to me. There is something about that tension – like we’ve left the feel-good, storybook narrative and entered into something more risky, more wild, more… real.

Lean in to What's Stable

Nathan Westwick
Faith, Overcoming Fears, The Journey

Two years ago, almost to the day, my wife and I had the privilege of visiting the isle of Iona in Scotland. What stood out to us, other than the incredible beauty of this small island, was a small abbey perched along the southeastern shore.

This abbey was built by St. Columba sometime after he landed on the island in 563 AD after fleeing persecution in his home country of Ireland.

In front of the abbey stands St. Martin’s cross, built around 800 AD.

Mustering the Strength to Fight On…

Mustering the Strength to Fight On…

Nathan Westwick
Fighting for What's Good, Life Abundant, Overcoming Fears, The Journey

For most of my life, I’ve felt like a pretty emotionally stable bloke.  But lately, it seems my days are bookended by feelings of anxiety at night followed by moods of depression in the mornings.

There are a variety of reasons for these emotions, but most of them are related to my continued realization that life (at least the good stuff) is really tough.  That in order to live a full life, there are things I have to face head-on and fight each and every day.