Where do I fit into this equation? Well I'm right in the middle… I love the pep rallies, parades, football games, carnivals, mums/garters, and how the community comes together during hoco… however, I think that hoco has turned into more of a competition than a time to show school spirit. Most kids who don't have dates are down in the dumps during hoco week. I know this feeling very well, because for 3 years of my high school career I did not have a date to hoco. I remember feeling left out because all my friends had dates except me. I remember asking myself "What is wrong with me? Why am I not good enough?" I dreaded hoco every year and felt awkward at school events without a date.
That dread for hoco changed this year, when my friend asked me if I would go with him as friends. I was so excited, because I would finally get my chance to wear a mum on hoco day, take cute pictures with friends, and participate in hoco activities without a care in the world…I was riding the happy train…Until I heard that one of my friends didn't have a date this year. This bothered me, because I didn't know what advice to give her when she expressed her sadness about not having a date. How could I tell her "oh it's okay you can still have fun!" When I groaned and complained to her for 3 years, about how bad it was not having a date. No matter how many times I told her everything would be fine, I knew that in her heart she wouldn't believe me.
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| My friends and I enjoying our last Homecoming! |
As I walked around school on hoco day, I couldn't help but feel silly, for ever feeling like I wasn't good enough just because I didn't have a date. After thinking for a while about this matter, I've realized something that I wish I could have realized 3 years ago.
In past years, I based my worth off of the fact that I wasn't asked out by a guy. Like how silly is that? Our dignity, as sons and daughters of God, does not lie in homecoming mums, cute dates, or fun pictures. Our dignity, as sons and daughters of God, came forth when we were conceived. Before we were born God deemed each and every one of us worthy of love. No hoco date can ever change that.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the mum my friend made me and I really appreciate the time and effort he spent to make my senior hoco unforgettable. It is my hope though, that girls (and guys) will look to God, instead of earthly things, to find their self worth. Saint Augustine once said "You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." Rest your heart in the hands of Christ, let Him keep your heart safe and allow Him to protect it from those who won't treat it right.
So whether you're dateless or not, you have worth! Just because you haven't been asked out on a date now, doesn't mean that you won't be asked out on a date later! Besides, 10 years from now nobody is going to remember who got asked to hoco, and who didn't.
You are worth more. Don't ever forget it!
-Al
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| My beautiful mum! |
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the mum my friend made me and I really appreciate the time and effort he spent to make my senior hoco unforgettable. It is my hope though, that girls (and guys) will look to God, instead of earthly things, to find their self worth. Saint Augustine once said "You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." Rest your heart in the hands of Christ, let Him keep your heart safe and allow Him to protect it from those who won't treat it right.
So whether you're dateless or not, you have worth! Just because you haven't been asked out on a date now, doesn't mean that you won't be asked out on a date later! Besides, 10 years from now nobody is going to remember who got asked to hoco, and who didn't.
You are worth more. Don't ever forget it!
-Al
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