Another Five Minute Friday – today’s word is: Ordinary
GO
I thought we’d have more time. You’re not even 11 yet, but already we’re feeling the angst. It shouldn’t be a surprise. You’ve had that teenage sass and swagger since your very first steps.
When I’m not pulling out my hair, I’m choking back a laugh. This level of drama and emotion is usually reserved for foriegn soap operas. You are definitely my kid.
But there’s one part that is neither frustrating nor amusing, it just breaks my heart. When you tell me that you hate the way you look. When you act like a C is a failing grade. When you tell me you “just can’t do it” before you’ve even tried.
You used to wear a plastic tiara every day and you just KNEW you were a princess. You used to build fantastic inventions out of duct tape and cardboard boxes and were legitimately surprised when they didn’t turn back time or make chocolate ice cream. You used to believe in fairy tales and happy endings and most of all, in yourself.
Who told you you were ordinary?
I worry that it was me. That you see me worrying that I’m too chubby. and too weird. and too awkward. If it was, forgive me. We are so much alike and sometimes I forget that I am more than ordinary too.
The tag on our souls says “Handle With Care.” Because we are sensitive. and emotional. and weird.
But most importantly, it also says:
Betzlehem Elohim
Imago Dei
Made in the Image of God
There’s nothing ordinary about you.
STOP
So here’s all of us, with a divine spark all our own. Because there’s no such thing as ordinary.
Part of lisajobaker.com‘s 5 Minute Friday; a writing challenge that goes like this:
1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog’s footer}.
3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard.
So Here's Us... 
March 1st, 2013 at 4:29 pm
Loved reading this. Visiting through Five Minute Friday. My little girl is still in the pink tiara phase and I spend so much time thinking about how to preserve her confidence. Thanks for sharing!
March 1st, 2013 at 6:45 pm
Enjoy that pink tiara. It just slips by so fast! Preteen is it’s own kind of fun, but I hate the struggle.
March 1st, 2013 at 4:45 pm
This is beautiful! I so understand the feeling of worrying that our kids lose that confidence because of us. So glad you can see that you are far from ordinary!
March 1st, 2013 at 6:47 pm
Thanks! Those little mirrors that follow us around… gotta make sure I’m teaching them their value.
March 1st, 2013 at 7:07 pm
Mine are still so young, still in the tiara phase so I am grateful for the reminder that I need to watch how I speak and look at myself. The tag on our hearts made me tear up. So glad I stopped by from Five Minute Friday.
~Sarah from http://sudryandspecific.wordpress.com/
March 2nd, 2013 at 10:00 am
Love that tiara phase, when the whole world is your oyster… despite the angst preteen had it’s joys too.
March 2nd, 2013 at 9:17 am
This is probably my favorite post of yours yet! Thanks Christie! The whole self-love drama can get pretty ugly, but truth like this definitely helps fight that ugly.
March 2nd, 2013 at 10:05 am
Thanks Emma! It’s definitely a balancing act. Humble but not humiliated and insecure. Confident but not proud and self absorbed. And every Mom’s worst kept secret is we don’t have it figured out ourselves. But we’d like our daughters to, without the struggle.
March 12th, 2013 at 7:09 pm
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