No Longer Alone, No Longer Afraid

I've done it again.

I've managed to injure myself again.

This morning, I was helping with some yard work. Last summer, our garage was re-roofed. Somehow, a rusty nail was laying on our yard. I tripped over our garden hose, and I was wearing flip flops.

Well, I probably don't have to tell you the rest of the story. The rusty nail ended up being lodged up my left heel. Without thinking, I screamed, and ripped it out.

OUCH!


I think I last had a tetanus shot before entering college, so I think I'm alright. But in the mean time, I am in a lot of pain. A LOT of pain. 


Please pray that it doesn't get infected and that the pain subsides soon.


......

A session I attended Wednesday was on Literacy instruction. As a part of the session, the presenter read Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco, who has become a dear friend of mine.

While I know and love the story, I caught so many striking similarities. The story is about Patricia's endeavor as a little school girl. She had Dyslexia and didn't know it. She was made fun of, tormented, teased, and bullied by others because she was different. I want to share a few excerpts...

"Then, one day, she had to stand up and read, which she hated. She was stumbling through a page... and the page was going all fuzzy when the kids began to laugh out loud.


Mr. Falker.... said, "Stop! Are all of you so perfect that you can look at another person and find fault with her?


That was the last day that anyone laughed out loud. Or made fun of her. All except Eric. He had sat behind Trisha for two whole years, but he seemed to almost hate her. Trisha didn't know why. 


Trisha was afraid to turn any corner, for fear Eric would be there. She felt completely alone...


He got all the other kids to wait for her on the playground, or in the cafeteria, or even in the bathroom, and to jump out and call her "Stupid!" or "Ugly!" 


And Trisha began to believe them......


Skip a few pages...

But Mr. Falker caught her arm and sank to his knees in front of her.... "How awful for you to be so lonely and afraid."  


She sobbed.


"But, little one, don't you understand, you don't see letters or numbers the way other people do. And you've gotten through school all this time...." He smiled at her. "That took cunning, and smartness, and such, such bravery."


As the story ends, Patricia becomes a reader. And now, a world-renowned author who I am proud to call a new friend of mine.

Those few paragraphs of the amazing story are so relatable for me.

To be bullied, ignored, outcast, treated poorly because I am different than someone else. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm not crazy, but a certain 3 individuals had me believing I was. Their words, their ignorance, their intolerance of people different from them made me feel so low. Like I was crazy. And I felt completely alone.

But I've grown so much from the terrible experience. As Patricia had Mr. Falker, I had many, many other caring friends and professors, and my Savior Jesus, who stooped down beside me and said, "You poor thing... How terrible for you to be completely alone and afraid."

And they all said "You're lovable. In my eyes, and especially in God's eyes."

And they all said "You survived 8 months of school with an illness that makes life unbearable for most people. That took such, such bravery. Well done."

And now I look forward. The bullies will still be there. But I no longer feel alone. I no longer feel afraid.

Because, I can do this. This is not too hard for me.
I am lovable (loved). Especially in God's eyes.