High school again isn't such a bad thing

 TMV©2008

The last two weeks the Lord has shown me something very sweet about our lives. How He can redeem something in my life from more than twenty years ago. As a child I found solace in school; it was my place of safety. I loved learning. In the elementary years I would lament each time we would have to move and I would have to start over in a new school. Our class would be starting something new whether that was in science as we put feline bones together; completing the cat to me it was like putting together a puzzle. Or learning about some new foreign land and all of the students would look forward to the display day where different foods would be cooked from different countries and blanket and clothes would be on display. It never failed; I would be uprooted and moved to another class that wasn’t studying anything like the previous class, so I would have to cram to catch up. Being the new kid is never easy. In sixth grade, I was the new kid six times, that year. 

Junior High was even more difficult for me. My home life became the haven for many different groups of people who loved to party. I became tired of being picked on in school and started standing up for myself and fell into a different set of friends where education was not the priority. The emotional upheaval from the previous summer events set me on a course for self-destruction. Certain family members tried to intervene, and in many ways probably saved my life by allowing me to live with them. By high school, learning had lost its power over me. I was tired of not fitting in and I was unable to reconcile so many things in my life. So I walked away. It is one of my deepest regrets in my life. But then again, I wouldn’t have met Chuck. Funny how life unfolds itself. 

Now that Chuck and I are in college together, it feels like we are both enjoying our high school years once again. The other day he carried my books for me. You know, that has never happened before. I was pretty much invisible to boys in school. Which looking back isn’t such a bad thing-since my life was such a mess, adding a school romance would have only ended in a negative way. 

As we head off to school together in the morning there is something special about our time together as we talk about the subjects that we are studying. Eating our peanut butter sandwiches together between classes seems divine.  It’s like God has frozen time for us and given us this special gift.  A gift-certificate to redeem the past of its shame and pain; in many ways it has enabled us to rewrite our story. Getting goosebumps and giddy because he wants to carry your books is such a great feeling. I am very grateful for this time we have together to not only learn about specific subjects but also, seeking God in how He might use our gifts and talents to bless others. God is in business of taking our ashes and turning them into something so beautiful.:)