You Never Know

Every once in a while God shows me why I am living where I am. God reaffirmed that I should be in Bolivar last night at church.

Everyone knows that when you are in Middle/High School drama surrounds you. Typically, when I see drama starting to go down I try to nip it in the bud as quick as I can. Last night, I thought I was doing the same.

All of the youth were filing into the meeting room when I noticed that one of the girls looked as if she was about to break down into tears. I pulled her aside and asked if she was okay. She told me that she wasn't okay so I pulled her into another Sunday school to talk.

This girl immediately broke down into sobs.

The problem, which I could barely understand, was something that happens to everyone. A friend of hers came up to her and called her a "ho." That was a typical greeting which in classier terms mean, "Hello best friend. How are you doing?" Her friend didn't even realize how much that name would have hurt her feelings. She didn't know that this girl had just been told that people around school thought that she was a whore because of what she did with boys and that half of the rumors weren't even true.

This girl is 13 and she lost her virginity at 12. Since she was 12, she has been intimate with a guy 7 times! She shared with me that she tries to say no, and if she didn't say no most of the time then her number would have been 20. She even shared with me that she really thought that the guy she lost her virginity to really cared for her, but found out soon after that he only wanted her for one thing. She also said that he had locked the door and wouldn't let her off the bed. Basically she was raped.


What do you say? I didn't preach to her. I could have said the typical church responses which consist of the following:
1. You should not do that.
2. Why didn't you just say no.
3. Find new friends.
4. God will forgive you.
5. Born again Virgin

I didn't know what to say to her, but I did know that God had put me there for a reason. She and I talked about her goals and what could happen if she continued to make those decisions. My heart was breaking for this girl.

While talking with this girl, my head started thinking, "How many times do I say something hurtful to someone and I don't even realize it?" Everyone does it.

This might sound silly, but for those of you who know me know that I have a serious foot issue. I hate feet and it's a problem. One time someone made fun of my toes. I will never forget it. That person didn't know that I had an issue with feet. I have a hard enough time wearing flip-flops. He didn't know.

How many times do we make fun of something and not realize how much it hurts someone? Just something to think about.