Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The Bouncing Flat Tar Head Baby

Okay. Friends, women can be crazy. I had such a wonderful time last night in fellowship with the women from my Women's Biblestudy. We are currently studying So Long, Insecurity by Beth Moore...and whew do we have some insecurities that are just...well, ridiculously hilarious if you talk about them in the right tone. I do not want anyone to be insecure. I hope we all find our security in Christ and refuse to let Satan use our past or our future to make us insecure.
While discussing our insecurities last night I realized no one has made a book for Elementary and Middle school girls that will prepare them for the cruelty of this world. Let's be honest! Kids can be so mean. Little girls need to know that they are loved beyond words, and what people say should not affect how loved they feel! In middle school, 7th grade, in the center of the lunchroom, the boy I liked stood up and yelled, "I don't like Emily Williams. She is as flat as a piece of paper." Ouch. Oh yes, I cried. And that has affected me since! I remember on my wedding night being so concerned Zane wasn't going to like what he just married because I still had not developed to where I hoped to be...maybe when we have kids that will change!
I was not the only one in biblestudy last night that had been teased about being flat (the other ladies grew though). However, some of the women had other reasons to be insecure. Some women who developed early had all the guys liking them because of that. Now, that is something I am so thankful I didn't go through! I am so sorry to all of you who had to worry about if your boyfriend liked you for you, or for what God gave you.
Some of us have issues with holding onto things. Apparently, the generation ahead of me had dolls that rotted after time. (No thanks. I will stick with Barbies.) One of the women hated that her dolls bodies always rotted away, but she still had the heads! She would play with beheaded doll heads! If you are thinking what I am thinking..then yes, Law & Order should make an episode of a crazed woman that became a schizophrenic around the time she beheaded her dolls. Haha...but to the serious side. Her parents one day threw away all her doll heads. That was it. No more dolls to play with. In fact, lots of the women in Biblestudy knew of people whose parents would just get rid of all the toys without notice. Now, it causes them to hold onto EVERYTHING...afraid that if they don't, they will lose what is precious to them now.
One woman had so many issues growing up, she would bounce her head on her pillow...really...every night until she fell asleep. (Fortunately that stopped when she got married.) When one woman was a little girl, her mom always put tar in her hair. I'm sure she was made fun of, but when she was little, she probably had no idea how ridiculous it looked!
I hope some of these stories you can relate to. I also hope that some of these stories you laugh at! They are each in our past. God is drawing us into security in Him. We do not have to worry about being flat, or bouncy, or losing things. God loves us so much for who He made us to be. He fearfully and wonderfully made each of us. He will love us tomorrow, and the next day, and continue to love us...FOREVER! If that doesn't make you secure, then nothing will.
"Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you. I will carry you and save you." Isa. 46:4
"I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God." Isa. 41:9-10
"Don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true Word. And we, out of all creation, became His prized possession." James 1:16-18
Now read Psalms 139. Soak it all in. God loves us so much. There is absolutely no reason for us to be insecure. We are the King of Kings', the Lord of Lords', the Maker of Heaven and Earth's, Prized Possession. Yes. Let that smile creep across your face. Be filled with joy. God loves us with an immeasurable love. He will never leave nor forsake us. He cannot be taken from us. He thinks even with tar in our hair that we are beautiful.
God bless each of you! Have a wonderful day. Go out and be confident in Jesus Christ...know that you were fearfully and wonderfully made.

2 comments:

  1. I can totally relate to the 7th grade "being flat" dilemma!! Here is my story: I adored elementary school. I was fortunate enough to have many friends, make good grades, get chosen for lead roles in plays, and have many wonderful experiences. Then I went to the big jr. high school and was devastated to find that not one friend from elementary school was in any of my classes. I felt so out of place. And we had gym class. I actually loved the class, but we had to undress and put on our gym clothes in front of the rest of the girls in the class. I was very skinny and had not begun to develop. Therefore, I did not wear a bra. So you can imagine my horror of taking off my dress(we still had to wear dresses to school in those days) and putting on the thin white gym shirt. I would try to find a corner in the locker room to change, but there was really no where to hide. So I immediately told my mom about the problem. My sweet mother went out immediately to find me a bra. They did not have the soft, pretty training bras back then, believe it or not! (This was in the mid '60's.) You had two choices--a soft, wide piece of fabric(about 6 ins. wide) that had elastic around the bottom and lace around the top of the "bra." (I guess it was a forerunner of the tube top except that it had straps and was not "fitted" to the body.) The other choice was made like a bra except that it had two stiff "Madonna cones" for the cups! The smallest size was 28A. I chose the wide, soft "bra" as it was much more comfortable than the Madonna cones; plus, the Madonna cones made me self-conscious as it took me from being a 28 double negative to having two pointy mounds protrude from the breast area! The first day that I wore the "wide bra," I so looked forward to gym class--I would no longer be totally exposed as I dressed. But much to my dismay, that day I heard one of the girls in my class say to a group of girls she had gathered, "Look at Edi's bra. It is so wide. It looks really weird." I was crushed. So I decided to wear the other "pointy" choice(!), but then I heard comments of how I had "suddenly blossomed" overnight! I was miserable. I was so thankful that after one semester of jr. high, my parents went to the West Indies to do mission work! I was excited about living in a different place in the world and experiencing many new things there, but my greatest excitement came from being delivered from jr. high gym class!! All of this seems silly now-but to a 7th grader, it was very traumatic. Thankfully, I survived and later became thankful for my petite size!

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  2. Oh no! Your story definitely trumps mine. I hate how mean kids can be to one another. Seriously, someone needs to write a manual for little girls that will be experiencing all this. I know the saying, 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.' It is not true! Especially to little girls. Words hurt very much.
    As for the cone bras...I am so excited we have more to choose from now!

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