Nearly seven years ago, I shared on my blog about the release of an excellent book called Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, by Alex and Brett Harris. It’s still a book I highly recommend to all young people. And middle aged people. And old people!
I said then, and still wholeheartedly believe, that Alex and Brett are the real deal—Christ-centered young men of character and vision, committed to serving Jesus with humility and excellence.
I did their dear mother’s memorial service in 2010, and dedicated my book 90 Days of God’s Goodness to her. I keep in touch with Brett and Alex. I love these two young men, and the wonderful wives God has given them.
So where has the Lord taken the Harris twins since Do Hard Things was published? This article from The Gospel Coalition shares how Brett and Alex have remained faithful while doing hard things in very different ways—each true to their particular calling and life circumstances. This is worth reading:
Alex and Brett Harris Are Doing Hard Things
By Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra
“Do hard things,” Alex and Brett Harris told their fellow teenagers six years ago. Get up early. Step out of your comfort zone. Do more than what’s required. Find a cause. Be faithful. Go against the crowd.
Be better than your culture expects.
The Harris twins, then 18, were leading by example. They worked through the summer to finish their (homeschool) high school at 16, then clerked with the Alabama Supreme Court. They organized a statewide grassroots political campaign. They started a blog, coined the “Rebelution” movement (the website has more than 40 million pageviews), wrote a book (which has sold 470,000 copies), and spoke at conferences.
And then they turned 20.
But they didn’t slow down. The twins enrolled at Patrick Henry College, took first place in the moot court nationals, and wrote another book. They dated and married their wives, cared for and buried their mother, and chose directions for their careers. Since then God has taken Alex and Brett, now 25, in starkly different directions that illustrate the Lord's mysterious plans and purposes as he calls us to forsake all and follow him.
