The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Brooke K. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Reading - Book Report on Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris
*This book was given Special Permission for a class participating in the Ambassador League*
Do Hard Things is written by twin teenage homeschoolers, Alex and Brett Harris. How many people do you know that have a written a book? Probably not very many. How many teenagers do you know that have written a book? Even less I would guess. Of the teenagers that have written a book, I would highly doubt that their catch phrase for the book is anything like this: "A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations".
Do Hard Things discusses how the current expectations for teenagers are so low that people really expect little from them. It informs how expectations have changed. During the 1900's when somebody turned thirteen or fourteen he had about the same responsibilities as an adult. Nowadays, people have stretched out the years from being a child to becoming an adult and a lot of them have filled them with things they will regret – drugs, parties; those days are called your teenage years. The book was clear that instead of getting caught up in being a teenager, we need to be doing God's will. Some teens are so bored that they fall into rebellion against authority or parents. What they really need is something worthwhile to do. We need to be rebelling against rebellion – "rebelution" is what they call it.
Alex and Brett show how unlike other teenagers they really are. At age sixteen they went to Alabama Supreme Court to intern there. When they were seventeen they worked as grass-root directors for four state-wide political campaigns. They had a popular Christian blog at age eighteen. Alex and Brett have also had the chance to speak to thousands of teens and parents at conferences across the United States.
One of my favorite quotes out of the book is: "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 do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don’t expect it to last. We do." This is true and frustrating for me.
Something that keeps a lot of people from being able to be used by God is that they think that they have to be perfect to serve God. But Do Hard Things is about how God will use anyone who is willing to be used. 1 Timothy 4:12 is repeated quite often in the book. The verse says, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." Everything we do we need to realize that people are watching us. They might be wondering why we are different than them because Christ reigns in our lives. Even in the small things we need to show people the love of Christ or they might not find Christ.
While I understood the book and I care about the fact people don't expect much of teenagers, I might not ever join their cause exactly. Yet Do Hard Things has definitely cause me to evaluate whether what I’m doing is the right choice. The choices I make now will have a long-tem impact.
