by Guest Contributor Kat Kachmar

Imagine you’re a 16 year-old female, with no father in the picture, and a mom who does drugs. You have no accountability. You come and go as you please, do poorly in school even though you’re smart, but no one is there for support and to push you to succeed.

One day after school, on your walk home, you meet a guy in a sweet ride. This guy offers to take you home, and over the next few weeks he buys you gifts, treats you nice, and tells you he loves you. You are in awe, smitten really. Before you know it you are living with him and find out the hard way you are now under his control and he has become your pimp. (more…)

By Guest Writer Ashlyn Slamans

How many times have I heard that phrase growing up? It seemed so cliché when I heard my mom repeating that line to me over and over. It didn’t matter if it was movies, music, books… as a young teen I just didn’t get the concept. Of course I didn’t watch the bad stuff or really listen to the raunchy lyrics. But just because it wasn’t Christian doesn’t mean it’s bad, right? (more…)

By iBeGat Writer Blake Moon

The world turns. Planets, moons, and stars rush by me as I stay fixed to this one place.

Those who would know me, those who would be my ally, those who would call me by name, lose their chance as they only give me a fleeting glance.

I call to them, but they do not answer.

I block their path, and I am run over.

I grab them, force them to face me, but, like dust, they are ripped from my fingers.

[Continue reading at iBeGat...]

by Guest Writer Delaney Young

There’s something my sister, my friend, and I like to do in our spare time. We like to put on make-up and get prettified, pose, and take pictures of ourselves. We spend about an hour or so doing this, and we wrap it up in a file on my computer and call it a photo shoot.

I don’t know why putting on make-up, doing our hair, and taking pictures is so entertaining or fun. Sometimes we plan to do this, sometimes we just grab a low battery camera and snap a few shots for fun. I guess one reason I like to do this little “photo shoot” thing is because it’s a chance to look pretty. To get a pretty picture. Because a lot of the time, a pretty picture seems so out of reach for me. (more…)

by Guest Writer Sarah Rupp

Enemy. When I think of that word, I tend to think of terrorists, murderers, rapists, and thieves. But the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as, “One that is antagonistic to another; one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent.”

Being a cosmetology student, I know several girls who could be classified as enemies according to that definition. And you may know several at your own school who are “mean girls.” Mean girls are enemies. (more…)

by Guest Writer Julia Dye

“You’re so fat, you big bub,” was the compliment that greeted me after a day of difficult finals. Taking a deep breath, I fervently prayed, “God, help me to know that having a little brother is worth it in the end.”

I pondered it some more. No, it had to be worth it. Otherwise, there was no way I would be able to bear the many years of my life I had yet to share with my younger sibling. (more…)

by Guest Writer Rachelle Rea

The other morning as I walked outside something caught my eye – orange flowers – my favorite color. I smiled, wondering if those flowers were my flowers – placed there just for me.

“God sends you flowers each morning as a symbol of His love for you…It’s up to you whether you receive them or not,” Shannon Primicerio wrote in God Called a Girl.

In order to send flowers, God must notice me. (more…)

By Guest Writer LuraKate Pijanowski

Sometimes the easiest way out is to run from our problems. Or so it seems… until the problems come running right back to us.

I know about that. (more…)