Yes it’s true, I really did get bullied at church. I was only 7 years old when my grandma started taking me to church. At that time no one at my house would go to church so I would go with her. She would take me to an all girls class called, “ Missionetes.” I looked forward to Thursday night because I knew I would be able to go and learn more about God. Every week I would memorize the verse of the week and raise my hand for everything!

These were my early years in the Christian faith. Yes, I am Christian. However this brand new passion for God didn’t exactly make me new friends. This group of girls started to notice that I was… well, the TEACHERS PET! I didn’t even know I was, I was just so excited to have found something that I was passionate about.

So one Sunday we all went to have lunch in the cafeteria after service and I saw my “favorite” group of girls and I as I tried to take a seat, one of the girls pulled my chair from behind me and I fell. They all started laughing and of course they never apologized. I was shocked and couldn’t believe that these girls that were in my class, doing life with me, would do something like that to me. This was their way of expressing their thoughts about me. There are many days I cannot understand why people are like this. Now that I am an adult, I've noticed that people with that kind of personality consistently show up in my life. This is why some of my recent life situations reminded me of this day. However that day I realized TWO THINGS.

The first thing I realized is that I am a VERY passionate person. You will automatically know what I love by the way I speak about it. I will begin to talk a lot more and a lot faster! Whether it’s about God or things that I love, I am very passionate. This circumstance, along with other awkward situations of jealousy/bullying throughout my life (which I will share more about with you as I become more comfortable), made me realize that not everyone is going to be excited about what I am excited about and that is okay.

The second thing that I realized was that just because I was at church it didn’t mean that everyone there was perfect! Everyone is on their journey, including these group of girls. I’ve had to really learn this as an adult. There are days when it’s very hard for me to accept that people can be cruel, selfish, and rude. It’s always the strangest thing to me when people get jealous and compete against each other. But then comes a moment where I check myself and I realize, WHO AM I! Who am I to judge people. If I wish not be judged then I should always extend love and even though I may extend love, I should know that it will not always be returned.

Matthew 6:14-15

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.