when high school still haunts you, remember that a season doesn't dictate who you are...
Ten years ago I graduated high school. A whole decade. I know, I can't believe it, either. It seems like it was just yesterday I was looking forward to college and to all of the adventures ahead of me. It certainly doesn't seem possible that ten years has already passed.
I boarded the plane in Dallas last night, and I was grateful that 50 minutes was all that stood between me and home. As I have had more opportunities to travel over the years, I have learned that the best seat on the plane is in the first row. Who cares that you don't get Sky Mall or a lap table. You get leg room and you're the first one off. Anytime I get the chance to sit in the first row, you better believe I'm taking it... even if I do have to squeeze myself between two strangers. It's worth it.
Two gentlemen sat in the first row, one beside the window and one in the aisle seat. I shimmied myself past the older man on the end of the row, and I sat down with a sigh of relief. The young guy next to the window said, "I think we went to high school together." I slightly recognized him, but my brain could not come up with a name. After all, it's been a decade, remember? We exchanged names, and he was right. He didn't look the same as he did when we were in school, but his face was still familiar and I was glad he recognized me and said something.
If you're anything like me, high school wasn't your best season. I wasn't really cut out for high school. Old-fashioned souls don't fit in well with teenagers. I wasn't popular in high school. I was a rule follower (surprise-surprise), I was a prude, I wasn't "experimental" or rebellious, and I was quiet. I had a few good friends, never had a boyfriend, and I was left out more often than not. Some people really hit their peak in high school, and well, good for them, I guess. I just got through it and looked forward to moving on to bigger and better places. High school had it's ups and it's downs, but I'd never wish to go back. It's a season that impacts one's life in monumental ways. A season that can be really difficult. And it's a season that can take a toll on your self-esteem and affect the way you view yourself far into your adult years.
I remember believing that no boy would ever want to date me. I believed that I would never really fit in. I thought that I'd never find people who acted or believed the same way that I did. That I would forever be seen as weird and unlikeable. I believed that I would never be good, or pretty, enough or that I wouldn't belong. That people wouldn't like me for who I was and that I'd have to live in the shadow of the attention-seeking crowd forever. I believed that popularity would always win out and that those who had it going for them in high school would be set for life. If only I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have spent any weekend nights in tears hoping that I'd eventually be included. No, if I knew then what I know 10 years later, I'd shrug my shoulders and say "Oh well." Because who you are in high school does not dictate who you will be.
Physically, I haven't changed much in 10 years. With the exception of smaller hair, a little less eye make-up, and a few missing pounds, I pretty much look like the same. I think the same, act the same, and I still believe the same. But over the past 10 years, the Lord has shown me much truth about who I am. About who I'm not. About the fact that simply because I believed something for years doesn't make it a fact. That being different isn't a bad thing. That being who God created me to be is exactly who I need to be. Because seasons come and seasons go. Life moves on, even the really difficult and bad parts, and new things come. New opportunities, new blessings, and new mercies. And I've realized that even through the tough moments of high school, God was working. He had a plan and a purpose and, although it certainly didn't seem to be the case at the time, He was using it for my good. Because 10 years down the road, I'd be better for it. Ten years down the road, I'd look back and see the truth. And 10 years down the road, I'd be living a life filled with God's blessings, mercies, and goodness and none of the stuff that happened in the past would matter anymore.
So hang tight. Believe the truth about yourself. Your past is not who you are. Forget what they said about you, what they thought about you. Forget the lies you believed about yourself. It's simply a season, and season doesn't dictate the rest of your life. There's so much more to life than a few short years. I know they seem like they'll never end, and I know they might seem like a big deal. But you'll get through it. You'll move on to a better season. And you'll look back and you'll praise the Lord for what He did during that time. For the things He taught you, for how He protected you, for the mercy He showed you, and for the fact that He faithfully saw you through it.
Nothing lasts forever. God's children live in the hope of a new day, and praise Jesus that He always has new things in store for us.
I boarded the plane in Dallas last night, and I was grateful that 50 minutes was all that stood between me and home. As I have had more opportunities to travel over the years, I have learned that the best seat on the plane is in the first row. Who cares that you don't get Sky Mall or a lap table. You get leg room and you're the first one off. Anytime I get the chance to sit in the first row, you better believe I'm taking it... even if I do have to squeeze myself between two strangers. It's worth it.
Two gentlemen sat in the first row, one beside the window and one in the aisle seat. I shimmied myself past the older man on the end of the row, and I sat down with a sigh of relief. The young guy next to the window said, "I think we went to high school together." I slightly recognized him, but my brain could not come up with a name. After all, it's been a decade, remember? We exchanged names, and he was right. He didn't look the same as he did when we were in school, but his face was still familiar and I was glad he recognized me and said something.
If you're anything like me, high school wasn't your best season. I wasn't really cut out for high school. Old-fashioned souls don't fit in well with teenagers. I wasn't popular in high school. I was a rule follower (surprise-surprise), I was a prude, I wasn't "experimental" or rebellious, and I was quiet. I had a few good friends, never had a boyfriend, and I was left out more often than not. Some people really hit their peak in high school, and well, good for them, I guess. I just got through it and looked forward to moving on to bigger and better places. High school had it's ups and it's downs, but I'd never wish to go back. It's a season that impacts one's life in monumental ways. A season that can be really difficult. And it's a season that can take a toll on your self-esteem and affect the way you view yourself far into your adult years.
I remember believing that no boy would ever want to date me. I believed that I would never really fit in. I thought that I'd never find people who acted or believed the same way that I did. That I would forever be seen as weird and unlikeable. I believed that I would never be good, or pretty, enough or that I wouldn't belong. That people wouldn't like me for who I was and that I'd have to live in the shadow of the attention-seeking crowd forever. I believed that popularity would always win out and that those who had it going for them in high school would be set for life. If only I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have spent any weekend nights in tears hoping that I'd eventually be included. No, if I knew then what I know 10 years later, I'd shrug my shoulders and say "Oh well." Because who you are in high school does not dictate who you will be.
Physically, I haven't changed much in 10 years. With the exception of smaller hair, a little less eye make-up, and a few missing pounds, I pretty much look like the same. I think the same, act the same, and I still believe the same. But over the past 10 years, the Lord has shown me much truth about who I am. About who I'm not. About the fact that simply because I believed something for years doesn't make it a fact. That being different isn't a bad thing. That being who God created me to be is exactly who I need to be. Because seasons come and seasons go. Life moves on, even the really difficult and bad parts, and new things come. New opportunities, new blessings, and new mercies. And I've realized that even through the tough moments of high school, God was working. He had a plan and a purpose and, although it certainly didn't seem to be the case at the time, He was using it for my good. Because 10 years down the road, I'd be better for it. Ten years down the road, I'd look back and see the truth. And 10 years down the road, I'd be living a life filled with God's blessings, mercies, and goodness and none of the stuff that happened in the past would matter anymore.
So hang tight. Believe the truth about yourself. Your past is not who you are. Forget what they said about you, what they thought about you. Forget the lies you believed about yourself. It's simply a season, and season doesn't dictate the rest of your life. There's so much more to life than a few short years. I know they seem like they'll never end, and I know they might seem like a big deal. But you'll get through it. You'll move on to a better season. And you'll look back and you'll praise the Lord for what He did during that time. For the things He taught you, for how He protected you, for the mercy He showed you, and for the fact that He faithfully saw you through it.
Nothing lasts forever. God's children live in the hope of a new day, and praise Jesus that He always has new things in store for us.
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