Weird, Bold, and Unapologetically God’s Student

Hello, 24!

Obviously, I couldn't think of a better analogy to use to describe my relationship with God over my 23rd year than what I do for a living. So I'm going to tell you some things and tell you some stories that happen in my life daily that just...well...just make sense. ;)

So here's a series of lessons I've learned framed as things I say to my students.

Lesson #1: You're going to get out of the lesson what you're willing to put effort into.

I can see the students that just "don't want to be here" in my head! :) So while I've told students this, I realized I was a hypocrite and that God was using a kid to show me myself. Gee Madeline, you don't like whatever is happening in your life, so you're going to just have a sorry attitude about it and mentally quit? Well, something I learned from making that mistake was that as long as I was defeated by circumstances, not mentally showing up meant that me physically showing up never made a difference. I want to make a difference, but I didn't make the correlation between choices I made for myself and how I impacted the world. 

Lesson #2: Turn your ears off when they say things that make you feel bad and turn them on when you hear me. 

There's a face I see and a voice of a child I hear getting picked on. Or really, its a managerie of faces and voices that cry because of feeling defeated because someone made fun of them because they couldn't read the vocabulary or didn't understand the lesson topic. I love to look at those students and say "pretend you have blinders on and look at me for a minute. Listen." How often does God realize we're getting overwhelmed by a forest of reminders and definers looming over us in a world that runs at 100 mph? How often is He saying "listen to me! My yoke is easy and my burden is light!" and I don't hear His voice? Those moments are sweet when He breaks through to us and I have found complete and total rest in the hardest of  moments.

Lesson #3: If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times!

Then there's the moments when your soul is tried by the student that hits the floor and laughs after you've told him to quit hitting the door frame on his way out and swinging on it. How many mistakes have I made over and over and over that I often wonder if I leave my Creator head scratching trying to figure out what ingredient He left out when He made me. I'm stubborn, EXTREMELY. And it's not even a joke. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. I'm fiercely loyal to my values but I can also repeat the worst of bad habits, mistakes, and choices that have left me in the dust more times than one. But how patient is my Father! And how faithful He is to hand me a mirror and show me myself in these moments!

Lesson#4: You are kind, You are smart, and You have something to offer this world. 

These are my favorite moments, when I see other students encouraging each other's success. Then I realize as I watch them, that we all crave validation that we are doing something right, we are enough, we are doing enough, and we are on the right track. 

I love to encourage people, I'm passionate about the truth, I'm more stubborn than you've been at your worst, I'm quiet and I might think too much, I'm over talkative about Christianity in our society, I may annoy others with my opinions or forthrightness, and I may hurt feelings.......... 

Lesson #5: You are not dumb! You are still learning, same as me! Asking questions is what makes you smarter!

....That's why I'm a work in progress. God bought and saved my soul and is still completing a work in me. "He has made everything beautiful in its time." He is patient as I grow, even when life or other people are less inclined. He is teaching me about word choice and using less harsh words to convey the same strength. He is teaching me that it is not wrong to be passionate in a world that has turned its ears off to truth for so long. It is not wrong to be awkward and say that encouraging thing to someone who may not receive it. He is teaching me to learn through finding wisdom in places I wasn't looking or didn't want to look. He is teaching me that there is "a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;" so if I ever go a long length of time staring hard and listening in a one-on-one convo, I'm doing my best to listen intently and keep this big mouth God gave an introvert shut and listen and learn from you for a minute. Plus, I love when people take the time to listen to me so I try to love others the same way.

But if the last year has taught me anything, it has taught me this. 

Never apologize for the good qualities He has given you that make you who you are. Never apologize. Your good qualities are rare in a harsh and unkind world. So encourage away. Share what God is doing for you unashamedly. BE WEIRD THAT WAY. Speak as God leads every time without carnal restraint. Walk closely in fellowship with Christ. Share joy even if you only have a little. By sharing, you multiply. 

You are very imperfect. But you are growing! You still fail and you always will. But He is "faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness". 

Some of the scriptures I've included might not have a reference. I just kind of laid out whatever scripture came into my heart out of vulnerability because I want to be genuine, not forced. I've done only a little editing to this post. It is going to be exactly as we should be. Real. Genuine. Bold. Many mistakes and full of Hope!

Make a game of finding the references. :) Then go write this in someone’s notebook.