Page 11 - RiseUpWarrior

3 Two lives I twisted my hair in my hand with nervous energy, an They all were different. awkward 12-yr old. There we were, all sitting in a cir- And so I learned to be different too. I made friends with cle in Sunday school, and all behaving our very best. others who were not Christians but were kind to me. I Across from me sat the very girls who had been mean couldn’t see any reason to be friends with the “Chris- to me again this week at school. But here at church, we tians” since they were so cruel. They were just too pop- all pretended as though everything was fne. ular to bother with anyone as unpopular as me, at least This week was especially diffcult. This week at school not in public. Sure, in church they would pretend to be I was in the bathroom when one of the girls from church kind, but I knew how they really treated me. approached me at the mirror. “Your teeth are so yellow!” She exclaimed! “Don’t you I learned to memorize ever brush them?” Then with a fick of her gorgeous black hair, she left me alone, pushing open the bathroom whatever the teacher door and letting it swing itself shut as she strutted out. As soon as I knew I was safe, I started to cry. I looked wanted, but none of it at my teeth. They did seem more yellow than hers. Had I forgotten to brush them this morning? I grabbed some seemed to have anything toilet paper and tried to clean them off, with tears run- ning down my face. to do with real life. I recalled the recent memory while looking across our Sunday school room at her perfect teeth and thick, black And so, as I made friends who were not Christians, I hair. The teacher’s voice busted through my concentra- began to listen to their music. Then I began to follow tion. She needed an answer to some question. I tried their behaviors, and soon I found myself lying to my to concentrate and asked her what the question was dad and jamming to music that made me want to have a again. What had healed the man, and made him whole? boyfriend. And of course that didn’t take long to work “Faith” I answered. “Great, Kristi” my teacher said, as its magic, and I had a secret boyfriend at school; one she continued to babble on. I drifted into daydreaming that I didn’t mention at home or at church. again. I had learned well to keep the two lives separate. Things went like this for years. I believe this is an epidemic that permeates all of Chris- I learned to memorize whatever the teacher wanted, tianity. We are stuck in a cycle where people have two but none of it seemed to have anything to do with real lives, two styles of behavior; where Christians are al- life. My parents had been missionaries when I was 7-10 ways trying to pretend that all is well. But that isn’t the years old, taking our family to England and Ireland. But way God intended for us to live. God’s plan is for us to we were back in the states now, and I was in Jr high. I live ONE life and to actually LIVE that life for HIM. was treated like a “missionaries’ kid” who had to know all the right answers in church, but no one was the same I’m sure you know what I am talking about, and that at school, especially not the pastor’s kids. you have seen this epidemic too. 10