Embrace Your Difference...It's Time

"I feel like a weirdo and kind of out of place with everyone else. I'm not talking about that ~*super christian*~ feeling either where you're not like the world. That's just how I feel in general. But then again, not being apart of [a] puzzle has always been what makes me special." -- Erika Renée

I was sitting around, passing the time on the internetz when I saw a friend post this statement on Facebook and it spoke to me. In my head I said "YAAAAS", "amen", and other things that signified affirmation and acknowledgment that this resonates in my spirit. IRL, I just pressed the *like* button and went and went about my day. I talked to my bestie, finished grocery shopping, went to a meeting, watched some Netflix, and went to bed.

Then I had a dream. And I can't remember all the details or individual people; I just woke up and realized I that had to write. I had to say something to the ones who feel different.

To the little weirdos,the odd ducks,to the ones who feel like they don't quite fit in,Or the ones who march to the beat of their own kazoo.

You are beautiful.

There is a uniqueness that is grafted into your spirit because the world needs a little quirkiness sometimes.

Don't try and suppress what makes you different - acknowledge it so that you can see it nurtured and refined.

There is nothing wrong with you.

People may love you but not get you or your vision or the things you carry in your heart. Understand that you are not alone and have community in the countless others who feel like you do and the One who made you different.

I acknowledge that for some of you, that thing that causes you to be set apart has also pitted you against God. If no one else in life says this, I will: God loves you.

[full stop]

This isn't conditional love or one that's offered if you become something more comfortable for others to accept. Note I said something because for those who are different, conformity strips you of part of your humanity. God loves you in all your difference to the point of rejoicing over you (Zeph 3:17) and speaking about plans of hope and a future for you (Jer 29:11). People may have told you otherwise (because sometimes people suck) but know that God celebrates and delights in you. We are all crafted in the image of God and you, my love, are called to reflect something unique.

To the dreamers, the mystics, the queers, the visionaries, the ones who have all the words to express who they are and the ones who struggle to self define. To the ones who punch the sky asking why they can never seem to fit in and their counterparts who celebrate their awkward turtleness.

It is of us that I dreamed.

What sets us apart (*cough* makes us holy) will be used to heal, restore, and create or birth things that the world really needs in this season. We need to stop fighting what makes us different and step into who we were created to be.