You are courageous. No matter who you are or who your friends are or what kinds of clothes you have or whether you wear makeup or get good grades or play sports or not, you can be courageous in your social circle. Every day you can be bold and courageous in the way you love the people in your life, particularly other girls, maybe the ones who make you feel smaller than a mouse on the night before Christmas.
To realize this truth, lets start off with a story!
"Twas the night before Christmas"...whoops, wrong story!
"Frosty the snowman..."
No.
"Buddy the Elf..."
Goodness!
Okay, this story does have to do with Christmas, however, it's not one of the classics. This story is about a young ballerina in the Royal Academy of Dance.
Once upon a time....
....point shoes flew, glitter sparkled, booming orchestras blasted, and critical teachers looked on with unenthusiastic stares. Amidst it all, a young ballerina was pushed and poked as she was fitted into her beautiful, long-awaited "Snowflakes Waltz" costume for the Nutcracker ballet. She had been to many studios but never one like this. Here she had some friends, she had talent and promise, and sometimes the cool girls talked to her. I don't mean the chilly ones who had to wear two sweaters, I mean the girls who lived at the studio, wore designer clothes, and drank Starbucks coffee from the time they were 3. These girls were not only the best dancers at the studio, they were the COOLEST. They laughed at the same jokes, listened to the newest music, and always seemed to be ahead of everyone else in some way. Well, our little snowflake wanted more than anything to be their friend. Little Snowflake knew if she was their friend her teachers would smile at her, she'd go out to lunch between breaks, and most of all every other girl would recognize her as COOL. One day she decided to try her stuff and talk to them.
Little Snowflake: "Hey, those were some intense workouts in there!"
Cool Girls: *Blank stares.
Little Snowflake: "Umm...do you all know what parts you got for the Nutcracker?"
Cool Girls: *Little chuckles and giggles.
Then one girl replied, "Yes, we all got principle roles. How about you?"
Cool Girls: *Bursts of laughter from all of the girls.
I looked at my toes as they walked away. If you hadn't guessed by now, Little Snowflake was me, and they all knew I was one of many girls who got a normal role. No solos for me. I'd been dancing for a long time but never been to a studio where it mattered that much to be cool, to be the best, or at least to be friends with the best. I tried hard every day to win their approval, but every conversation went something like that.
About the time of our first performance, one of the girls had a birthday. She was turning 15, and she was the one who'd talked to me about my role. I wanted to do something for her, even though she'd been mean. Since that conversation, I'd had a talk with my mom and told her how hard it was, how the girls always laughed, and how I felt like a failure every time I went into that "stupid, fake studio."
She asked me a hard question, "Em, do you want to be these girls' friends because you want to be their friend or because you want to be their friend?" What she meant was, did I really care about them, or did I just want to be popular by hanging out with them.
After that talk, I prayed and asked God to change my heart toward the girls. I wanted to care about their hearts. Once I did that, I actually realized how silly their games were, that they were scared all the time of losing popularity, and would do anything to keep their status even backstab one another.
So, this girl had a birthday and I gave her a Starbucks gift card. Her big blue eyes popped and widened like I'd never seen before, as I handed her the card and said, "Happy Birthday, Molly!" We weren't best friends after that, but the girls never bothered me quite the same, and more importantly I learned to be COURAGEOUS. Even this little snowflake could do something for God's kingdom.
I also learned to be a friend, look beyond silly games, and use my influence for good. Since then I've encountered many other COOL girls, women and men, both young and old. God has called me into an industry that is all about COOL. Whether I'm working on a movie set, interviewing with a modeling agency, or serving coffee at my job, I'm not scared of COOL people, because I know the truth about myself and them. I am a COURAGEOUS, loved, chosen child of God. They are scared, unhappy, seeking approval anywhere they can find it, and desperately in need of God's love.
You can show them the joy and the boldness in your heart.
You can be COURAGEOUS.
You can live this verse:
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be in fear or dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6
Please share your own story of courage in the comment box below!
well Emy, i had the same problem. it was at the same dance studio. there were there girls in my tap and jazz class that were always the best at everything. and what i didn't know is that they were younger then me. but because they were so good i thought they had to be older. so one day as we all sat down in front of our teacher we had to talk to the person beside us and discuss a subject. i sat next to THE COOLEST girl out of the three. she looked at me then turn away to talk to another girl that im sure she didn't even know. it made me think did she think i was a freak? was i that bad of a dancer? did i do something to her? so i just ignored it for a bit. but then when i went to jazz the next day she was there and we stood next to each other. when the class was over we went to go change and she was saying how she got a good role in the Annie production. i decided to tell her that i was happy for her and i and i congratulated her. now when i see her she doesn't give me a rude look and when i see her at school we will wave at each other and smile. i was very proud of myself. i have tried my hardest to be courage to do that all the time. but because girl are more judgmental and rude it becomes harder and harder.
ReplyDeleteJosie! Our stories are funnily similar. Funnily, is that a word? You know, in some ways it does become harder, and in others it is easier. I have found that when you make loving, encouraging, forgiving, and standing up for the right thing your gut reaction it will become habit
DeleteJesus told us "love one another, and by this they will know you are my disciples" (John 13:35), which is saying that when we love others will recognize the difference, they will know we are God's children. I am sure that girl has noticed a loving, friend,y difference in you. It's exciting when His love is spread through us!!!!
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