A Shot in the Arm
During our neighborhood adventures growing up, I got teased a lot. I lived in a small town long enough ago that we actually played outside when the weather was sunny, so most of the time adults weren't immediately supervising what we were doing. We had rules of course, but no grown-ups were right there watching everything we said and did.
I was an easy target for the neighbor boys. I was an athletic liability in games of baseball. I was shy, chubby, and super-sensitive. Looking back now, I can say that the teasing wasn't really that bad; it wasn't enough for me to stop tagging along wanting to be included. It did demoralize me a little bit though. It gave me a Charlie Brown sort of feeling -- "I can't do anything right!"
Something happened one summer that turned things around for me. At the time it seemed like a small incident to all involved, but now I look back on it and realize it did me a lot of good.
One of the boys called me a Tubolard quite regularly. He even said it really fast so that it sounded like one word instead of three. This is something he did every day, so much so that I got used to it. I didn't even think about it. He just yelled it at me when I missed a catch in the 'outfield,' and I shrugged.
The time rolled around for our cousins to come and stay with us. We spent weeks with them every year. We did simple things like build forts, play cards, or watch movies, but those were sweet, fun days. It's the kind of childhood I wish everyone could have. We are blessed with the kind of family that, even through problems and hard times, has genuine love.
The first day after my cousins got to our house, we were playing outside as usual. Sure enough that neighborhood boy called me a Tubolard. Honestly, I didn't even realize at first what had happened. My cousin, tall for his age and stronger than he looked, rocketed at that neighborhood boy and pinned him to the ground. I remember lots of tussling. The entire time my cousin kept saying through clenched teeth, "You do not call my cousin that. I love her, and I won't allow it. You apologize now." Then the struggling died down, but the boy was still pinned.
"Let me up," the boy said.
My cousin shook his head. "Nope. Not until you apologize." We all stood in a circle around them waiting to see what would happen. A few seconds passed, but it felt like much longer than that.
The boy apologized. As we walked away I said, "Thanks. You didn't have to do that."
My cousin paused with a look surprisingly serious for one so young, "Yeah I did."
We never talked about it again.
After that when I got teased, it didn't bother me nearly as much. I had a new confidence. Those boys could say what they wanted to, but now I knew that I was loved. Someone thought I was worth standing up for.
This story came to mind this morning when I woke up. I watched the news, and the news wasn't good. The two main stories for today? Higher gas prices and people sick from the burning oil refinery near their homes. A drought in the Midwest so bad that the government is stepping in to try and help.
We are living in tough times. Things might even get tougher.
Have you ever heard the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V? It's a famous speech, a half-time pep talk written by the Bard himself. The first time I heard it, I wanted to buy a broadsword and join the fray.
Sometimes in life we just need to believe that we can do it -- that we can make it through -- that we've got what it takes in the face of terrifying odds.
For me, II Corinthians 4: 7-9 does it. I have it memorized. I even carry it on a card in my wallet as a talisman. It says--
I was an easy target for the neighbor boys. I was an athletic liability in games of baseball. I was shy, chubby, and super-sensitive. Looking back now, I can say that the teasing wasn't really that bad; it wasn't enough for me to stop tagging along wanting to be included. It did demoralize me a little bit though. It gave me a Charlie Brown sort of feeling -- "I can't do anything right!"
Something happened one summer that turned things around for me. At the time it seemed like a small incident to all involved, but now I look back on it and realize it did me a lot of good.
One of the boys called me a Tubolard quite regularly. He even said it really fast so that it sounded like one word instead of three. This is something he did every day, so much so that I got used to it. I didn't even think about it. He just yelled it at me when I missed a catch in the 'outfield,' and I shrugged.
The time rolled around for our cousins to come and stay with us. We spent weeks with them every year. We did simple things like build forts, play cards, or watch movies, but those were sweet, fun days. It's the kind of childhood I wish everyone could have. We are blessed with the kind of family that, even through problems and hard times, has genuine love.
The first day after my cousins got to our house, we were playing outside as usual. Sure enough that neighborhood boy called me a Tubolard. Honestly, I didn't even realize at first what had happened. My cousin, tall for his age and stronger than he looked, rocketed at that neighborhood boy and pinned him to the ground. I remember lots of tussling. The entire time my cousin kept saying through clenched teeth, "You do not call my cousin that. I love her, and I won't allow it. You apologize now." Then the struggling died down, but the boy was still pinned.
"Let me up," the boy said.
My cousin shook his head. "Nope. Not until you apologize." We all stood in a circle around them waiting to see what would happen. A few seconds passed, but it felt like much longer than that.
The boy apologized. As we walked away I said, "Thanks. You didn't have to do that."
My cousin paused with a look surprisingly serious for one so young, "Yeah I did."
We never talked about it again.
After that when I got teased, it didn't bother me nearly as much. I had a new confidence. Those boys could say what they wanted to, but now I knew that I was loved. Someone thought I was worth standing up for.
This story came to mind this morning when I woke up. I watched the news, and the news wasn't good. The two main stories for today? Higher gas prices and people sick from the burning oil refinery near their homes. A drought in the Midwest so bad that the government is stepping in to try and help.
We are living in tough times. Things might even get tougher.
Have you ever heard the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V? It's a famous speech, a half-time pep talk written by the Bard himself. The first time I heard it, I wanted to buy a broadsword and join the fray.
Sometimes in life we just need to believe that we can do it -- that we can make it through -- that we've got what it takes in the face of terrifying odds.
For me, II Corinthians 4: 7-9 does it. I have it memorized. I even carry it on a card in my wallet as a talisman. It says--
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (NKJV)It's always nice to know that we have the love and support of the people in our lives, but sometimes that isn't enough. At times the adversity we face requires more than that. Then it's good to know that despite our human frailty, God is there to see us through.
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