Tag Archive for: Jess McDonald Ragg

A child is looking at the feather with wonder

Three Good Things About Childhood We Forget as Adults

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It is amazing how much interacting with a child (whether your own or a family member’s or friend’s) reminds you of the wonderful manner in which they view the world – how we likely viewed the world too at that age, before we “grew up” and graduated to a life of work, rent or mortgage payments, complicated friendships, disappointment and heartbreak.
Woman looking up with cross behind

Looking at the Easter Story with Fresh Eyes

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While I’m a massive fan of Christmas, there is something about Easter that, on a spiritual level, I actually prefer. Observing this series of days—from Ash Wednesday, all the way up to Holy Week—that incorporate a sequence of spiritual practices, I find it life-giving for my faith.
Two woman are boycotting another friend

Why We Put Up With Bad Friendships

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Have you ever wished that your relational life was like Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants? Surrounded by people who are all supportive, who want the best for you and will go to bat for you; who know when you need picking up and when you need a stern word. Instead, friendships are often a tricky arena.
Woman looking at herself in the mirror looking content

How I Came to Like the Way God Made Me

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It was in intermediate school when I discovered that I was “weird”.  According to this group of “cool” girls in my class, I was strange. Odd. Intense. Weird. And rather than this remaining merely their opinion, I considered their words authoritative on who I was.
A scene of baby Jesus n the mange with Mary and Joseph

Appreciating the Christmas Story through Fresh Eyes

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With Christmas just around the corner, I’m sure all of us are seeing a lot of the nativity scene—the holy couple, tucked neatly into a triangular barn, with heads tilted toward the chubby babe Jesus, laid in a manger of hay. But did you know that how we tend to picture the nativity scene may not be totally accurate? 
Art student pondering feedback from teacher

How to Receive Correction Even When It Hurts

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I don’t like it when people correct me. Maybe because I’m like every other person before me, convinced that I know what I’m doing and don’t really need anyone else’s input.
A rich guy who is wearing a branded t shirt and with a sport car

Why I Believe In the “Prosperity Gospel”

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My early life of faith featured sermons on how to “believe to receive” or “name it to claim it”, and how God would give you everything you wanted.
Silhouette of man looking up with courage overlaid with prison.

Learning Courage in the Face of Suffering

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This ANZAC Day, I reflect on a story that’s woven into my own family’s history. Like all families, we too carry history of personal stories and experiences of those harrowing times.
hand picking petals

Are We Over-Spiritualising Our Love Lives?

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In Bible College (or “Bridal College” as it’s also known), I was asked out on a date by a guy whom I had clearly stuck in the friend-zone list. But my friends encouraged us to be together because we were “so perfect for one another”. And he seemed to be everywhere I happened to be—surely this was a “sign” from God.