He Showed Me How to Survive...Middle School
He Showed Me How to Survive...Middle School
by Grace H.
Everyone always tells me that middle school is hard, the worst years of their life. While there is much truth to that statement, I have found a way to make middle school some of the most joyful years of my own life. The highlights were blessings, but the low points did feel like being punched. As a soon-to-be-high-schooler, I look back on those days at school when I got the cold shoulder for a reason I was blind to, the competitiveness of social media, and honestly, a lot of other unfair things I was thrust into, fumbling for familiarity. Yet, the good times were golden, shimmering, joy-filled experiences.
Ecclesiastes 4:10 says, “If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.” Finding a BFF is something that lightens the load of middle school. Unfortunately, finding a best friend in middle school is tough. For me, a best friend has the following: someone I can talk to about anything, someone I can laugh with, be myself with, and someone who encourages and loves me. But sometimes, we can get sucked up into a friendship based on the phony-side of yourself and of the counterpart of the relationship. Once, I was so deeply immersed in a friendship, but the other person was not. She was never there for me, and I ignorantly fell for her fake listening and false trust because I just wanted to be accepted.
One day, I was scrolling through Instagram, and I found myself in dismay, wondering why hadn't she invited me to her house with all these girls? Wasn't I her best friend? The weeks that followed proved that I was not. She lied and tricked me and dumped me for another girl. That sounds melodramatic, but that is the honest truth.
Have you experienced something similar?
Odds are, if you are in middle school, you have. While it can feel defeating to lose an alleged friend, do not give up all hope! God has YOUR best interest in His plans. He promises good to us! Romans 8:28 assures us, “And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love Him, those who have been called according to His purpose.” The LORD used this heartbreaking experience for me to find a friend who is constantly there for me, without cease.
As middle schoolers, we desperately crave approval and secretly want others to follow our lead. Guess what! We are all followers, no matter what we tell ourselves. Here is a conversation I speak or hear in the halls at least once a day:
“Does this look ok?”
“Yes! You are so perfect. I love your (fill in the blank).”
Guess what again?! You are so perfect with your messy hair and funny socks. For me, I try so hard not to care what flashes through others’ minds when I'm presented to them but that doesn't always pan out. If we take a step back (maybe a lot of steps) and assess what the LORD truthfully tells us, these problems fall away.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
He doesn't need the fake you, just the real you that is messed up.
He loves us for who we are—no matter what. He sees us perfectly as who we were meant to be and forgives each mistake. Genesis 1:27 declares, “So God created man in His own image…” Woah. The LORD of all made you and me with intentional detail. Even if it feels like no one loves you, the Creator of the engulfing skies and immense seas has an incomparable affection for your heart. He hears both the pain-ridden prayers and the rejoicing ones. He loves us all so intimately. Joshua 1:9 says, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Be brave, lovelies, and try to see what He sees because His guidance is so easily accessible.
As I prepare to leave middle school, I reflect on the words I wish I had heard before starting these three years... I wish someone told me...Love, be who Jesus made you to be, bottom line. You are so wonderfully made so be the funky, weird, quirky YOU! There doesn't have to be fear in being who He designed you to be. So even if they tell you to hush your loud voice with a lingering snicker, or stop being so feisty and bold, you can confidently laugh and proclaim that Jesus created you in the weird way that you act. When "they” laugh, strength will grow. You will grow immensely during these middle years. When you are being persecuted for being yourself, try and let it roll off your back because the King of the World sees you as the most dazzling, radiating, light-filled masterpiece.
You can be crazy, loud, talkative. You can be quiet, introverted, calm. You don't have to look put together and perfect. You can be the messy YOU! And you can be that way because He sets us free. Being loved the way He loves us, unshackles our souls from the heaviness of being a reflection of you that doesn't quite capture the intricate details.
So even if they tell you to hush your loud voice or stop being so feisty and bold with a lingering snicker, you can confidently laugh and proclaim that Jesus created you in the exact way you are. When He is the Name you seek and the One you strive to imitate, flesh can exclaim with joy and a free heart, "I don't care what you think! I don't care what you have to say! It CANNOT put me down because I have the approval of God, and He sees me as His artwork, gingerly crafted by Him!"
So wear your untrendy socks and funky top, blurt out the obnoxious laugh people scold you about, trip and fall awkwardly without fear of why you just heard your name being whispered. He made you purposefully. When you feel as if you are being crushed to mere crumbs, just think “Why should I let them grasp onto my mood and drag me down, sinking into the dreary side of my personality? No. What loss is a few opinions to me? I have the forever-love and acceptance of the Creator of the precise reason you are giggling at me now.”
Middle school is hard! I understand why each tear trickles and each giggle escapes. But listen to every word that slips from my mouth. As you try, I am going to try right along with you.
My dear, we are in these woah-this-is-crazy-what's-going-on times with one another. Our Jesus loves us all even though we have so many flaws (and boy does He know those flaws; He knows us better than anyone else for crying out loud)! So, from one loved child to another, freedom comes in His perfect, passionate love. We are loved from the rock hard, shuddering parts of our hearts to the fluttering, joyful sections of them no matter what might ever, ever commence.
All my love,
Grace H.
Grace is an incredibly talented eighth grader from Nashville, Tennessee, who loves to write, hang out with her friends, read, try new foods, laugh, and Jesus.