This article has been updated and was adapted from 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life. This unique book was written by Lacy Ngo, a dietitian nationally recognized as a top expert in faith-based mindfulness and evidence-based nutrition. She shares the exact steps that, based on science, produce the most dramatic health and weight loss success in her book, 18 Weeks to a Healthier, Happier, More Purposeful Life. This book is like nothing you have ever seen before. It combines faith and science. Both are crucial when it comes to producing real change because real change involves the mind, body, and spirit.
Sigh, Sixth Grade
(A sixth grade girl ponders, “Is God real?”)
It was the first day of middle school. I felt all grown up and ready to meet new people. I had carefully decided on a pink v-neck shirt and a pair of jean shorts that had a pink ruffle on the bottom.
The first few weeks of sixth grade went okay. I was making many new friends, but I became particularly close with two girls. We started going over to each other’s houses and talking on the phone every night. Sixth grade was going fine until something happened…
Beautiful… Amazing… Wonderful Girls Can Still be Cruel
This was probably the first huge lesson of my young life. I learned that people can be cruel, especially sixth grade girls. These beautiful girls weren’t cruel people; they were being cruel. There is a big difference. I am sure they were feeling all these complicated emotions just like I was. After all, being in sixth grade is tough.
Sixth Graders seem to feel like they need to put others down to make themselves look better. If you can put down someone else, then people will pay attention to you, or that’s what you think when you are in sixth grade. If you want to be cool, you must show how utterly uncool someone else is. Someone has to be the loser or outcast or no one can be the winner. .
The Outcast
A few months into sixth grade, I was picked to be the outcast. One day, the two girls I had befriended started doing things to deliberately hurt me. Later I learned that one told another friend, “it was funny to see Lacy mad, and this was why we liked picking on her.”
First, they began by ignoring me. I particularly remember one incidence that occurred in gym class. While we were practicing lay-ups, one of the girls had just made a shot, so I held out my hand for her to give me a high five. My friend wouldn’t even look at me. She just walked right past me. She ran straight to the other girl and started giggling.
The ignoring was just the beginning. They then began spreading silly rumors about me. Shortly after the rumors spread, I saw a group of girls talking before class. As I approached, one girl whispered, “ Here comes Lacy, everyone turn your back.” They actually huddled together in a circle with their backs to me when I greeted them.
The Worst Day
On the worst day, another girl and I walked up to the lunch table where we usually sat, but no one was there. Then, I notice a few of the girls I usually sat with standing near a table on the other side of the lunchroom. I walked over to them and asked “oh, are we were sitting over here today?” They replied nonchalantly, “oh no, we are sitting over there; go save us a seat.” I sat at the the other table saving their seats, but the other girls never came to the table. The two of us were sitting at a huge table all by ourselves.
You can imagine what that does to an eleven-year-old girl’s reputation. When I realized what was happening, I moved to another table with a different set of girls. Then, the girls at this table thought it would be funny to throw my lunch on the ground. I couldn’t eat my lunch because it was ruined.
Alone
These kinds of incidences went on throughout sixth grade. I felt so alone, like I didn’t have a friend in the world. I hated going to school. In fact, I dreaded it!
And although my parent’s were amazing (something I am so greatful for) I didn’t feel happy at home either. I didn’t like going home because I knew that meant night was coming, and I would have to try to sleep. Every single night I couldn’t sleep. I was so lonely and the dark made me feel even more alone. I would lie there absolutely terrified. My heart felt like it was in my throat. I would be in a panic because I was all by myself in my room, and I felt sad almost all of the time. I tried to hide it from my parents because I didn’t want to make them sad, and I didn’t want them to feel like their daughter was a loser.
Then the questions in my head started. My young 11-year-old mind thought, ‘I didn’t do bad things; I didn’t smoke, or talk back to my parents like other kids did. I made good grades and went to church, so why was this happening to me?’
Wait a Minute, “Is God Real?”
The questioning got me thinking. I began thinking about things that I had never thought about before. I started wondering if God really existed, and if so, why was God letting the other kids be so mean to me? “Why should I even believe in God, just because my parents said so?” I thought. The big question was, “Is God real?” If God was there, I had never really given God much thought before. Sure, I went to church, knew the story, and even accepted it as true, but I never truly understood.
I Decided to Pray…
The night that I began pondering, I decided to pray and ask God, point blank, Is God real? So I prayed “God, if you are real, show me a sign.” Within the same week, while walking home on the same road I took every single day, I saw a tree distinctly shaped as a cross. I had never seen it before, yet I had taken that path every day that year.
And This Happened!!!
On another day, something very strange and even more wonderful happened. I was lying on the couch one night watching T.V. with my parents. As usual, I was feeling terribly sad and alone, dreading the inevitable bedtime, when out of the blue, I suddenly felt strange. God spoke to me! I felt God tell me, “I love you.” I wasn’t watching anything spiritual or hadn’t been thinking about God. The words just came.out.of.nowhere. I didn’t hear a voice; I just felt the words being said to me, and a weird warmth came over me. God was telling me He loved me, and that I was never alone.
I know the words came from God because it changed my life. At that moment, I felt an indescribable joy, greater than I had ever felt before. I knew that even though I did not feel loved at school, I was not alone. Someone who loved me was with me all the time even at school. I realized I wasn’t alone at night while I slept in my room either.
A New Understanding
In a moment, all of these realizations came rushing over me…all at once. Suddenly, I didn’t dread going to school or to my room at night. I knew I wasn’t ever going to be alone again, and I knew I had NEVER really been alone. I didn’t care what people said because the most important being in the world loved me. Everything else seemed trivial. It was amazing to me that all of this knowledge came to me at once. God had spoken to me. That night was the beginning of a new life for me.
I truly didn’t care what people thought of me anymore, but consequently; I almost instantly found new friends. The ignoring, teasing, and rumors stopped or at least I didn’t hear them. I loved going to church. I started having fun at youth group. Oh, and at night, I slept. Beautiful wonderful sleep! I loved going to my room because it was a chance for me to be alone with God. I would often pray myself to sleep. This was the beginning of my NEW life with God.
Today
Today, I still go through times of sadness. I still care what people think. I think we all do, but I know that I have God’s comfort and support. Now I know that I am not alone.
Now, I realize that the year of being teased and bullied was a miracle. Although I was not and am not even close to perfect, after that experience, I was more aware of my actions towards others all throughout middle school and high school. I was careful about making fun and being cruel to others. I know I did not succeed all the time because well let’s be honest, I was a middle school girl. Still, I am thankful that God showed me how much it hurt to be picked on or bullied so that I was more careful of my actions in school and now.
God Loves You that Much Too
I couldn’t believe the love God felt for me. I could feel how strong it was. And do you know what? God feels that way about you too! Yes you, reading this right now. God LOVES you soooo unbelievably much. YOU are not alone.
Do you have a story?
We all have different experiences and different ways God shows His presence. Not one story is the same. I think God gives us what we need to be able to know God is there. If you are wondering if God is real, I ask you to pray and hang in there. Sometimes it just takes time, and we all go through seasons of doubt.
Have you ever felt God speak to you?
Just like our own children, we all have different personalities so God, I think, speaks to each of us in different ways. What about you? How has God gotten your attention? Have you ever felt God speak to you?
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