Outcast

I heard this on the radio yesterday and loved it. I'm sharing it now because...

As the mom of a teen, it is hard to see your kid be excluded or treated like an outcast. As a mom your heart breaks when your child's heart breaks. BUT- I would rather have an outcast who stands firm in Christ than a follower who seeks the approval of others over their Creator. Here's to the pure Christian kids wearing their latest bible camp t-shirt, the band geeks, orch dorks, colorful theater queens, and the math/science geniuses who may be tossed aside at school but are dearly loved by their God. Be you. God made you to be you in a world full of look-a-likes.

As a woman, I daily feel the pressure to be thinner, younger, more beautiful, more fashionable. Everywhere I look is the latest trend to buy, the latest diet craze, the latest hair/skin saver. Rarely do I see magazines focusing on the inner strong spirit of woman. We are sold out and exploited. When we don't look the part of pretty dumb girl, we are often over looked entirely. Smart girls are often labeled with bad words, by men and women alike, simply because they lead. We fall into the trap of judging each other because of not looking good enough. We freak out when men gawk at women because of their appearance, but guess what-- women also gawk at women judging their hair to their toenails. Be more than your outside, friends. Be real. Make sure your beauty comes from your heart for God. Stop working so hard on the outside. Work out the spirit.

As a ministers wife, I totally get this. I've said multiple times that I am not a good minister's wife, but for some reason this is who I am. I'm not the kind of girl to buy into being a people-pleaser. I have zero interest in playing a game, role or catering to power player manipulators. This alone makes being a minister's wife in America difficult. In my network of Ministers wives, I have friends who are judged if they don't dress nice enough one week- then judged because they dress too nicely the next. I have ministering friends who are judged because their car is too nice, and minister friends who are mocked for being eccentric if they drive a smart car. I have minister friends who have gay best friends and have been fired or black-balled for it. I have minister friends who get reprimanded for simply sharing the hard news of scripture. I've learned that the gospel is sometimes easier to share with non-Christians than it is with the church.

My guess is there are a few folks out there who may also relate to this song. Press on, my friends. God did not send us with a spirit of fear. God gives us a spirit of power (2 Timothy 1:7).  He made you. He loves you zits, bad hair days, and all. Be you. Rejoice in being an outcast.