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Topic: Rejection (11/15/04)
TITLE: Last One Picked? By Jenny Veleke 11/16/04 |
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I position myself on the sidelines, right in front of the crowd of kids, hoping wildly that someone less desirable is there and I will not be the last one chosen. Team captains are named. Quickly, the kids are picked out one by one to be on a team. First Charlie because he is an awesome kicker, then Emily because she is a fast runner, then Jack because he is Charlie’s buddy, then Sarah because, well...just because she is Sarah. One after another they leave the crowd of kids and join their new teammates.
The kids are divided now and I stand alone on the sidelines. The team captains count off the number of teammates – ten each. One of them looks at me and lets out a huff. “Look,” he says to me, “we got even teams. If we let you play, well…it wouldn’t be fair to the other team.”
Worse than being picked last, I have not been picked at all. I have been rejected and humiliated. Inwardly I am crushed. Outwardly I walk away with a stiff upper lip and a head held high by sheer determination alone. I will not allow myself to cry in front of them, will not give them the satisfaction. As I round the corner of the school building, I collapse onto the pavement and dissolve into tears of despair.
Later that afternoon, I recount the incident on the playground to my mother. As she enfolds me in her embrace, she reminds me that although people on earth may reject me, there is One who loves me above all else, who fearfully and wonderfully made me and will never reject me. And with her words, I am comforted.
“I have chosen you and not rejected you; do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:9-10 (NIV)