Saturday, April 2, 2011

Lessons From A Transvestite.

{let me just go ahead and throw it out there that this blog post will probably get some really amazing google hits. which may lead to a post of it's own!}

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have already seen that I saw my first high school transvestite while I was out at college fairs this week. Talk about weird. In my 3 1/2 years as a college recruiter, I've seen a lot of crazy things out on the road and been asked some ridiculous questions, so I thought I was prepared for anything.

Apparently not.

I think it caught most of the recruiters off guard. From far away I probably wouldn't have noticed that anything was out of the ordinary, but up close was a different story. I will say that I have to give the girl props. She was rocking a pair of 5 inch heels like no one's business and in the short conversation we had, all I could think was that her makeup put mine to shame!

After a quick lunch with a friend, I got in the car and started three hour drive home. Inner mixed between highways and traffic jams, I couldn't help but return my thoughts back to this student. When I think about my middle school years, I remember just wanting to blend in. I'm not saying that I was willing to do anything to fit in with the crowd, but I didn't want to stand out. Because when you stand out, that's when you get attention that you probably don't want. Tried as I might, I didn't blend in. My nickname was Sister Abby... like a nun. I'm sure you can picture how nice the middle school students were as they chanted Sister Abby at me.

I began to try and put myself into the shoes of the student. What life experiences he'd been through that brought him to the decision that it was time to become a she. It's one thing to make that decision at a major transition time...such as moving off to college where you can establish a new identity around a new group of people. As a junior in high school though, you're still surrounded by the people who watched you grow up and know that you're trying to change yourself in a major way. More specifically, in a way that isn't all that common or accepted by people.

One thing that I observed about the student is that she was surrounded by a large group of friends and they genuinely seemed to have a good time together. While she most definitely stood out among the crowd, she also blended in seamlessly.


Isn't that how we're supposed to be as Christians? 


Are we not called to stand out in this world while still being approachable so that we can build relationships with others and show them God where they are?

I live in the Bible belt of Texas. Honestly, I would stand out more as a non-Christian in this area than I do as a Christian. So it is very easy for me to go to church, small group and my job at a Christian university and put on a good Christian face so that people think I'm doing this God thing right.

But that's not what I want. And I don't believe that's what we were created for.

I want to be a transvestite in this world. I want people to know there is something different about me and I want them to know that it's God in me that makes the difference.


So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12 The Message


May we all be as bold as the high school transvestite.


{5 inch heels and spectacular makeup are optional!}


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1 comment:

  1. Very profound and well thought out Abby. Thanks for your encouragement this early Sunday morning! Have a blessed Sabbath!
    <3 C.C.

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