Monday, November 4, 2013

Meet our new blogger Sarah!

Hi there!

      My name's Sarah. Pleasure to meet you.  I am a sophomore in high school, and I like to keep myself busy.  I enjoy music very much and dedicate quite a bit of my time to that.  I also babysit, and volunteer in the youth section for my church on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings.  I tend to be more on the tomboyish side.
      Now that we have the basics out of the way, let's get down to business.  
     First off, I have a confession: I am a bully magnet.  I don't know what it is, but I am. Depending on who you ask, explanations include me being strong willed, having an intense sense of justice from a young age, seeing things as black and white, not being a girly girl, not filtering my extremely loud personality, and just that people are looking for someone weird to take things out on.  That's also my personality in a nutshell.
     Whatever the reason, I never really fit in with the other kids. You know that girl who played tackle football with the boys? The one who went for blocks instead of dolls?  Yeah, that was me. The weight lifter, odd one out, the girl who never, for any reason, would spend more than 10 minutes on her hair.  Haven't changed too much in that aspect.
     The bullying, along with other things, cause a lot of problems for me over the years. I battled depression from a young age but was good enough at putting up a front that no one really knew. People seemed to think I was unbreakable.  Just letting everything roll off me, being a smart aleck, and having no problem being the odd one out.  They never guessed I might be crying myself to sleep.
     I didn't get as bad as I could have. Either way, that's another story for another time.  
     When I was 12, I tried youth group for the first time, right after I graduated sixth grade.  It was probably the happiest night of my life. I continued going there and still attend the same church as I did then. It was a wonderful experience, and for the first time in my life I wasn't the odd one out. I actually fit in pretty well.  
     See, at this place everyone was loud.  No topic was off limits, and it's not entirely unusual for us to ask each other for advice or meet up outside of church. We had fun but knew when it was time to be quiet and serious. And it was the only place I wasn't bullied or avoided. I  could actually just relax and not get made fun of, though it wouldn't really be a family if there wasn't some good-natured teasing.  
     At the winter retreat almost a year later, I became a Christian. 
     Now, don't get me wrong, my parents took me to church as a kid.  I “prayed the prayer” at age 4. But it wasn't real faith for me. It was just my free pass out of Hell – nothing more, nothing less. 
     But this time it was different.
     I was happier, and literally felt lighter. It was as if I'd been carrying a million pounds on my back that were suddenly gone, and it remained that way. It's really hasn't been that long, but so, so much has changed.  
     And you know those bullies I mentioned earlier? Gone.  Every once and a while one comes back to bite me, but they always go away after a week or two. The nerves are gone, and depression is just a tiny thought in the back of my mind. I'll never let it come back that strong again.
     That's my story, or at least the back cover.  
     So, if you want to hate me for it, or name-call, go ahead. I can take it now. No matter what you say, there are people who care about me, and a God who literally loves me enough to die for me.
     So, bring it on.  
     I'll probably write on a wide span of things here, from dealing with bullies and recovering from it to ethics and the Bible. Pretty much whatever seems right for that time or post. I'll experiment, and if there are unanswered questions or it gets a lot of interest there will most likely be more on that topic. 
     I look forward to hearing from you!


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