The Bully

My daughter is about to start cheerleading with the Upwards team at our church. I'm one of the coaches and super excited! Well, cheerleading brings up some things in my past I'd like to forget. Don't get me wrong I loved the sport of cheering!

Back to the story. When I was in 6th grade there was a girl who went out of her way to make fun of me every chance she got. Once she put a love letter in my locker and signed it with initials of a boy I thought was cute just to embarrass me. Anyway..I always liked dance & cheerleading but we could never afford it. So many extra fees for costumes & such... I was the oldest of 4 girls. Well, my parents tell me to go for it and try out for 7th grade cheerleading. I was thrilled! My mom & aunt had been cheerleaders and I really wanted to get my chance.

The Bully found out I was going to try out. She would laugh at me with her friends during recess when I practiced and said I was too poor to be a cheerleader. One time I was rollerblading in my neighborhood and The Bully had her older sister (a cheerleader by the way) drive her Mustang on my street, they rolled down the window to yell that I was "Poor, Ugly, a Nerd!" This group of mean girls crushed my spirit.

My mom would pray with me about it. We would talk about how we would rather be rich with love than have nice cars or clothes. But it was hard! I'm sure the situation hurt my parent's as well. My dad worked all day and went to college at night. My mom was busy with us girls. They did their very best for us.

I went on to make the 7th grade cheer team and The Bully didn't! Well, pretty sure that made her despise me more. I had more tiffs with her in later years but that's a whole other story in itself!

A couple years ago I walked into Springcreek BarBQ with Violet on my hip and guess who I ran into! The Bully was working the register. I smiled her way and then she hid in the kitchen the entire time we were there.

So, what did I learn from this life lesson? God is bigger than any Bully! And that I will watch my children closely and raise them to treat others with kindness.

Mark 12:30-31
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.  The second most important command is this: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.