My beautiful Family

My beautiful Family

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Rejection

Have you ever been rejected?  Have you ever walked into a room and felt every single eye turn on you and feel your skin crawl?  Ever felt that when people came up to you and shook your hand and you saw the glazed look in their eye and knew that they would rather be anywhere than where they are at that moment.
Rejection comes in many forms, a guy you have a crush on in high school, a girl you think is cute in college, your friend doesn't want to be your friend anymore because you run with the "nerds" and they are now a "jock."  A church that looks down its nose at you because you have been to prison.  An employer who doesn't want to hire you because you have kids so you will take to many days off. 
Sometimes it is right there in front of your face, sometimes it comes from your own family and other times it comes from out of nowhere from no one you know.  What you do with it is what really matters.  Do you hang your head in shame because you have been rejected, or do you hold your head high and walk with purpose because you know deep down that the rejection has nothing to do with you and absolutely everything to do with them. 
The reason I am posting about this (after being away for what seems like forever sorry things have been crazy) is because a huge part of our ministry is dealing with people who have felt in one way or another that they are rejected or feel that they have been/are being rejected by society, the workforce, the church and just about everyone and they are at a point where they aren't sure which way to turn.  Tonight our youth coordinator got us in to speak at a church, Jimmy, and 2 members of our ministry gave their testimonies, and something that rang true in all 3 of their testimonies was the need to feel accepted, accepted by the "wrong crowd" they all turned to drugs or alcohol to be accepted by them, in turn being rejected by the "right crowd" and their family.  They have all turned their lives around for God, and have been accepted by our ministry family, and they have become a huge part of our ministry and family.
But the thing is, it is so fragile.  Sometimes it just takes the wrong word or look from someone to start a downward spiral, all stemming from rejection.  There are some people who will not think anything of it, and others who it will tug at your heart strings, and I really hope there are more of those that will feel for anyone who has been rejected than those who won't care.  My main reason for this is to raise awareness for anyone who has ever been rejected in their lives.  If I have ever made anyone feel that way, I truly apologize and sincerely hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
Have you ever made someone feel rejected?  Ever felt that way yourself?