Middle School Angst

I returned to 7th grade this week. It’s a miserable time. It was when I was that age, and as I sat in the room full of 7th grade students today, I’m sure it is for them also. The changes in kids from 6th to 8th grade are huge. You have a 6th grader that just turned 11 and an 8th grader that is 15, differences are huge.
I had the opportunity to be in a position this week where I knew I was the outsider, I knew I wasn’t wanted. And while this is never a fun thing to experience, these individuals don’t have the power to hurt me, so water off a ducks back. (But I still didn’t like it.) On the other side of that, I had a chance today to remember how it feels when someone makes you feel like you belong.
Whitney had an honor roll breakfast at school this morning. Last quarter when I went, I was late getting there, and we had to sit with (gasp) kids she didn’t know. Worse yet, they were boys. So I was under strict orders to be there early, and to not pick a place to sit until she was there, so we could sit with her friends. I got there early, being able to take simple instructions such as, be there early. I did however sit down, because there were chairs. While waiting for my pip squeak to show up, a mom came in and sat down with me. Now fortunately for me, it was one of 5 moms that I knew. We visited, and before I could tell her my situation, she told me that her daughter, M, had told her the same thing Whitney had told me. So we continued to visit, and Whitney and M just happened to come into the cafeteria together. So we both got it right. Whitney plays club volleyball with M. They are friends, and I know the mom, not well, but I do like her. It was probably the most enjoyable honor roll breakfast to date, and it is number 6. Because I was included, I was made to feel like I belonged. This lady doesn’t have the power to hurt me either, so the feeling of belonging was the same as the feeling of being the outsider, based on the source. But what a difference it made in my day. Being wanted as opposed to being unwanted.
I do need to point out here that I have many wonderful friends. I never feel like no one cares, and that I’m all alone. (I’m not counting my family, they are great too.) I have a couple of friends that I am 100% positive that when I really need them, they would not be available for me, they would MAKE themselves available for me, and that makes this object lesson God gave me even more powerful.
If I can tell the difference, with many healthy relationships and good friends, then how would it make someone feel who doesn’t have my circle? I know women who don’t. God has thrown down a new challenge to me, that there are women who need to be included. They need to feel like they belong. God created every one of us in His image, each of us with our quirks and oddities and personality differences. I see the value in every person, but I don’t always show that I see it. Colossians 1:16 says “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” I should place the same value on God’s creation he does. If we are created in his image, Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them, then we all must look like him a little bit.