Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Illustrate the meaning of "A Man is Known by the Company He Keeps" (without using the actual phrase). (01/31/08)
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TITLE: Forever Different | Previous Challenge Entry
By Randy Chambers
02/01/08 -
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Though I never really looked the part, I found my place with...well...the 'geeks,' and the 'nerds.' I wore no pocket protector; no eyeglasses or high-water pants. I carried no calculator, protractor, or text books on quantum physics. In appearance I was, dare I say it, a pretty boy. My hair was perfect, my clothes were fashionable for the day, and I turned a few heads. But nice looks alone did not outweigh the lingering stigma bestowed on me by my choice of friends. As for the girls of interest to me; well, we’ll just say they had very little interest in me.
Interestingly enough, as a result of being part of such a group, a number of people got the wrong impression about me--that’s, right--they thought I was smart. That myth was disbanded in time after my various displays of blank stares, and shoulder shrugs in response to teachers’ classroom questions gave indication I was no Einstein. I don’t recall, but there is a good chance I didn’t even know who Einstein was.
In the eyes of so many who saw me as un-cool, I was the coolest in my group of friends. And yet, in my group of friends, my coolness was not like their coolness, which, of course, left me as yet still, the most un-cool. But they were great guys and didn’t really care about all that. It didn’t bother them that I was different. It was ok with them that I was concerned with my grooming. It didn’t even bother them that when they talked, I often gave them the same blank stare I gave my teachers. But I listened to them anyway, and that in and of itself seemed to mean something to them.
There was an interesting side-affect to being the ‘different’ guy in such a ‘different’ kind of group. There were moments that I, in my less-smarter-than-they kind of way, would say something simple--something I believe God had placed in my heart. And then came the silence. But not the kind where everyone is secretly thinking, "He's an idiot." It was a silence that came as they contemplated what was said.
I am always in awe at how God can use us in our most humbling of circumstances. When we see ourselves as nothing, He can freely use us to accomplish so much. "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength" (1 Cor. 1:25).
It’s kind of odd growing up and not really fitting well into any group; and then barely fitting into a group who really did not fit in themselves.
As a desperate teenager, I tried so hard to fit into the group of guys that were willing to let me hang out with them. But I could never shake the fact that I was still different. I believe it was because another Friend of mine had affected me so that my likeness to Him kept me from really ever fitting in with those groups in which I desperately wished to be included. It was tough at the time, but I have to say I am happy with my understanding of things now. When I was hanging out with Jesus, I was in the group above all others. That is a fact, I am now content with--and it is a fact, I now can happily say has made me forever different.
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"It’s kind of odd growing up and not really fitting well into any group; and then barely fitting into a group who really did not fit in themselves."
The ending makes the story. Nicely done.
Smart MC to realise "When I was hanging out with Jesus, I was in the group above all others".
Wish I felt like that ALL the time instead of being concerned that I don't seem to fit into a particular group.