I saw a post on Facebook by a super cute one handed girl who was pleading — don’t let your kids call me weird, I’m different. I don’t even know you, but I love you one handed girl who had the courage to post on Facebook. But, sorry sweetie, you are weird — and spoiler alert, we all are! I may have two hands but I’m a creepy, old, fat, white lady and a lot of people find that weird. Really we’re all weird in some way, but you have to reach a point where you realize your weird is wonderful, if you will just let it be. I’ve actually met three girls born without one hand in my lifetime — and at first glance they did look a little weird, but it took me no time at all to see that they were also quite wonderful! It took me days of thinking about this topic to remember I’d ever met someone with one hand because once you get to know someone you just accept them as a fellow human being and remember they touched your life. While it takes a second to realize someone is different it only takes the next couple of seconds to get to know them and see that really they are more like me than different.
I think not being weird is weird. What is normal after all? It’s weird how upside down God’s world is. Years ago I read a book by Carol Kent, A New Kind of Normal. It’s about how her life turned upside down when her vision of her life was turned upside down in an instant and the process of how she learned to adapt to her “new normal”. She never would have chosen this path. I don’t imagine anyone would say, I’d like to be born without an appendage, or dyslexia, or whatever imperfection we came with but we can adjust.We can do our best with what we are given and try to define ourselves, not as others see us, but as God sees us – redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Normal is just perception. If I perceive any situation as normal – it is my normal. Normal really only exists in cyberspace where professionals take weird people, Photoshop and air brush them and then present them to the world as normal — and we eat it up! I, personally, really like weird, probably the weirder you are the more likely we are to be friends, because I am pretty weird. If people define you by or treat you according to the number of appendages you have, number of pounds you weigh, the color of your skin, your religion, your sexual orientation, number of blemishes you have, number of eyeballs you have, whatever — they are missing the opportunity to know someone wonderful.
The tabs open on my computer would make Freud’s day. Right this second I have Facebook, Zoom, BibleGateway, Urban Dictionary, Pinterest and 4, yes four Google email accounts (Real me, work me, Paxton who’s been working on a project in here and a student who’s been coming over to use my stuff). I’m pretty sure this fact alone makes me weird! But I looked up weird on Urban Dictionary, (I love Urban Dictionary, people put definitions on and other people vote for the most accurate one. Disclaimer: It’s often irreverent, sarcastic and off color, buy hey, I’m weird). It is very unconventional. It also helps me navigate the world of teenagers I work in without having to ask so many stupid questions!
The truth is every word has two meanings: what I meant when I said it and how you take what I say. They are both right.
This teaches me that I have a choice with every word I say. I can choose my response, I can choose to be offended, I can choose to think you are ignorant, or funny, or clueless or kind, but most importantly we can choose to not be defined by the words of others. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion after all. We should use kind words, but sometimes I don’t. I may be having a bad day— hurt people hurt people. I may think I’m funny when really I’m not. But at the end of the day I choose Philippians 4:8 and I choose to focus on
…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
If I have said something that wasn’t these things – please disregard! Our words DO matter but I think what we focus on matters more, because I can control that!
Go – make your weird wonderful.
the psv 