Always Near

By Debra Weiss, RTF Staff Writer

You’ve sat in the waiting room more times than you can count, know more doctors than seems fair for someone your age.

You can probably speak more medical lingo than even the most accomplished doctors—and you’ve yet to graduate high school.

You have withstood test after test. Hospital stays become the norm while doctors scratch their heads. Then it’s on to a new drug, a new list of side effects to be alert for.

Friends are few and far between. Most of them are out doing “normal” teenage things while you’re just struggling to get by.

You try to stay strong. But words like faith and hope seem like foreign concepts most days.

You’ve tried praying but the only word you get out is “God…” before you stop because the pain is just too big for words.

You are the chronically ill teenager. . . (more…)

7 Steps to Wise Decisions

By: Debra Weiss, RTF Staff Writer

For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.  Proverbs 8:11, NKJV

Many of us, as teenagers, are at a point where every decision—no matter how small—has the potential to shape our futures for good or bad.

But God has not left us to make our own decisions. He offers guidance to those who are willing to seek His counsel.

I have found that there are seven steps to wise decisions. (more…)

Skydiving

by: Debra Weiss, RTF Staff Writer

Senior year has ended for me. I have no plans for life after high school. Right now, life feels a lot like skydiving without a parachute. After twelve years of structure, I’m officially an adult. I’m allowed to make my own decisions and (gulp) my own mistakes. It’s exhilarating and terrifying. (more…)