Mean girls-

always suck.
I am FORTY-SEVEN years old.  You'd think the mean girls days would be oh-so-far behind in my rearview mirror.  Seriously.
And yet, apparently, they aren't.
In a few recent social situations, I've found myself to be the target of some behind the back whispering and some very clear "turn the back" snubbing.

Adding a bit more salt to the wound...
my daughter, the one who would literally lay herself down in front of an oncoming train to save another soul, has been the intended target of some teenage nastiness specifically intended to hurt.

What the hell is wrong with these people?

Hold on-  I almost forgot to mention the intentional hurt that was shoved into my face for the second year in a row on my birthday.

WHO does that?
And WHY?

Does it make you feel better about yourself to spew nastiness and gossip?
Is your heart "healed" when you hurt others?
What hole are you trying to fill when you intentionally exclude someone or say things to tear them down?

Did you ever stop, for just one moment, to ask yourself if the target of your spite might need grace, or a smile or just a kind word?  Did you take just one minute to think, to REALLY think, about whatever perceived slight caused you to react the way you did and maybe consider offering a moment of mercy?  Do you understand that the person you are hurting may be hurting enough already?

Of course not.  Because if you did, you wouldn't be a mean girl.
You wouldn't spend your time finding ways to intentionally inflict your ill will AND spread it around like a nasty fungus.

I may be a lot of things that aren't easy to handle.
Angry, sad, impatient, and quite frankly, extremely emotional.
Impulsive at times and often, incredibly forgetful.
But one thing I AM NOT-
intentionally mean.  Ever.
If anything, I am overly sympathetic/empathetic, too quick to find the good when sometimes I need to be aware that there isn't good to be found.  I'm a bleeding heart for the underdog and always willing to give the benefit of the doubt.
NEVER, EVER, am I intentionally mean or hurtful.  And for my daughter and myself to be the target of someone else's nastiness?  It just makes my blood boil.

But, at the end of the day, the only thing I can do is slap a smile on it, be graceful and know that at the core of the need to hurt others is the brokenness in the heart of the one who inflicts the hurt.

So, pay attention, mean girls.  I'm gonna slap a smile on it when I see you, I'm going to pray for your hearts and the hurt that lives in them.  And I'm going to rest in the fact that YOU and YOUR ugliness don't define me or my daughter in any way, shape or form.
Christ defines me.
He defines my daughter.
And He is my strength, my shield and my armor.  

You can take your nasty and shove it where the sun don't shine.

love,
clan mac mama