I farted in front of a boy...and that's not the worse part!
It was 7th grade English class, and we were watching the movie "The Outsiders." We had just finished the book as a class, and then we got the privilege of taking a couple of days off of work to watch the movie. I wouldn't say that I was popular in middle school, but everyone knew of me. I was the chubby redheaded cheerleader that the squad kept around to help lift the little girls and tell them whether we were on defense or offense in the moment of the game. The lights had been turned off for the movie, and I found myself in the center of boys. I have always had guys as friends (which is another story all in itself...always the best friend.)So here I am surrounded by all of these guys. Amongst these boys, was my 7th grade crush. Pause for the hallelujah chorus and the wind slightly blowing open his buttoned shirt. So dreamy.
Do you know those moments where you have held in gas so long that your stomach is beginning to hurt? I was beginning to have gas pains. My dreamy 7th grade crush was sitting right beside me, and it took every muscle I had to squeeze my buns together. Oh...oh...oh...My strength was giving out. I was trying to act normal. I would giggle at all the right moments, and comment at all the right spots, but inside I was about to explode. My buns finally lost all strength, and it happened. "pbtpbtpbtpbt!" Yep, that's right. It was the motor boat kind. The one that was so loud it made a clapping noise against the chair. Suddenly, the look of shock came on each guys' face, but they had no clue where it came from. I quickly slumped to a level that I had never slumped to before. I pointed straight in front of me to the boy who could not speak a lick of English. He quickly started shaking his head saying, "No. No me. No me." The guys did not care what the boy had to say. They started picking on him and laughing at him. I felt so horrible. The poor kid just moved here from some little country far away, he can't speak our language, and now these guys were picking on him all because of me.
This memory has haunted me my whole life. Although it might be funny, I so wish I would have claimed it. To know that I blamed something on someone else for a guy that ended up in drugs and with many Baby's Mamas, makes me so sad. This got me thinking...
There is nothing I can do about this now. I must move on from it, but sometimes that is the hardest thing to do. We do this with sin as well. Many times we continue to live in the past and live in our failure. This is also where Satan likes for us to dwell. Many times our past sins and lifestyle are holding us back from moving forward. From doing God's work. From living for Him. We are not suppose to forget, but maybe we should just claim it, learn from it and move on. Claiming something does not mean that there will not be any aftermath. If I had claimed my "toot", there would have been jokes made at me, fingers pointed, laughter and a fowl odor to live through. But soon enough, the people forget, the embarrassment goes away, and the odor is no more.
I started wondering what I needed to claim to God. What sins or parts of my past am I not claiming? What am I holding on to? What am I blaming on others?
Whatever it is, I must claim it to Him. I must let Him have it. Only then will I be able to serve Him wholeheartedly.
So I tell you, "Just Claim it!"
