The Middle School Years

When I was in the sixth grade, a well meaning older relative told me to enjoy it because I would remember middle/high school as the “best years of my life.” I know I’m not alone. It seems to be a habit of some older people to tell teenagers that they are experiencing the best years of their lives. Maybe they actually mean that youth is something to be valued. I can get on board with that.

I was having a conversation yesterday with a friend who has a child in middle school, and it reminded me of the angst that comes with that age. Middle school was definitely not the time of my life. I was stick, straight skinny with long, untamed hair that went to my waist. I was growing out thick bangs that my mother had saddled me with in kindergarten. My bangs were almost shoulder length by the time I was in middle school, but because my hair wasn’t layered, they still looked out of place, so I always kept them pulled back in a thick scrunchy on the top of my head. And I mean a scrunchy – not one of those unassuming rubber bands – a thick, colorful scrunchy. I had braces and pimples, and I wore frumpy, unstylish clothes. I was socially awkward and shy, so I didn’t have many friends. I remember my mom telling me often during those years that I would grow out of that stage. She continued to encourage me that one day boys would like me, and I would find friends. I didn’t believe her.

Then came high school. In ninth grade, I had my hair cut and layered and learned to blow dry it straight and use a curling iron. My braces came off, and my friend, Laura, taught me a little about fashion (however, I will admit that was still a low point for me – and maybe still is. Haha). Boys started to notice me, and I began making friends. I became involved in clubs and activities and met people with similar interests. My mom had been right all along – middle school was a low point, but high school was great (mostly :)).

The conversation with my friend about her child and reflecting over my own middle school years, made me wonder if God sees our low points as our “middle school years.” When we are in those times of life where we feel ugly, useless, and friendless, and we think there is no way we’ll ever be anything different – I wonder if those are the times when the Lord looks down smiling because he knows the plans he has for us, and he knows that he is molding us to become beautiful, useful servants for him. Maybe that is why so many students claim Jeremiah 29:11 as their theme verse. Maybe it is because they know all too clearly what it means to be in a holding place, on the edge of a plan they know is there but can’t see. I wonder if God is like my mom, quietly encouraging us to hang on because he has a place for us, and it takes going through a few stages of awkwardness to become the people he has planned us to be.