In eighth grade, I walked into the first day of school with blue eyeshadow, blue eyeliner and blue mascara. I looked liked Violet Beauregard from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” I’ll admit, in junior high I was most definitely not the envy of anyone. I was the girl who talked too much and too loudly (and let’s all admit it, I still am). However, one thing that sets junior high apart in my mind was how proudly I walked into that hallway, wearing all shades of blue on my face. I had more confidence walking into that building than I did walking onto a college campus for the first time as a freshman.
Don’t get me wrong: I love who I am, or at least who I’m becoming. I also realize that junior high was tough for almost everyone. But the thing was that we didn’t care that maybe no one liked the sequined purse strung over our shoulder, the bright eye shadow that made us look like clowns, or the fact that “gauchos” were actually allowed to exist. Yes, a lot of what we did was based on the current trends of the time, but if I remember correctly, I genuinely liked the sequin purses and eye shadows. It made me feel like a mermaid - albeit a slightly awkward, somewhat chubby mermaid, but a mermaid nonetheless. And let’s just admit it, if someone told you that you could be a mermaid right now, you wouldn’t turn down the offer.
When I walked onto Liberty University's campus for the very first time, that same feeling of trying to fit in suddenly came back. But within the first few days of being here, the love of Christ was so overwhelming that I realized it was no longer about the trends or "fitting in"; it was about being in a place where love was trending, and whether you wore high heels or tennis shoes, cargo shorts or chubbies, Chacos or Birkenstocks, or dressed like Gandalf no longer mattered. You became best friends with people solely because of a shared love of Netflix, Liberty, and a genuine appreciation for Chick-fil-A. As C.S. Lewis once said,
"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'"
Be proud of who you are, love people, and love Christ. It's not about being trendy or going against the trends, it's about loving each other in spite of who we are and where we've been. We are here for a reason, through every awkward phase in life, every trend we shouldn't have followed, and every friendship that may not have ended well, we always end up exactly where we are supposed to be. As we grow closer to God, we will be drawn to the people He wants us to surround ourselves with, and fitting in will no longer be of importance. I have struggled my whole life with feeling accepted, but finally acknowledging that I am accepted by the Most High God puts everything in perspective. It's not about fitting in, it's about standing out.
