8th Grade Sucks

Today is the very last day of middle school for the very last Nelson. Hallelujah and Good Riddance. 8^th grade sucks. It is awkward, socially dysfunctional, emotionally unstable and confusing. It is chock-full of hormones, insecurities, algebra and smelly feet. I hated 8^th grade. My husband and first 3 children hated it too, and now it is finished. I am so happy that I will never have to parent or participate in any middle school activities ever again. I feel free and Mary Moore and I are celebrating.

We are rejoicing that it is over, but we are also celebrating all the things that happened along the way.

I am truly amazed and thankful for teachers and youth leaders who choose to spend their time and talent on and who selflessly love and nurture middle schoolers. I would hope that their mansions in heaven are big and bejeweled. These saints who loved on Mary Moore this year earned those jewels. 8^th grade is rough for many, but I think it was especially hard on M2. M2 suffered a brain injury before she was adopted into our family. As a result, she is developmentally delayed and it takes her 4x as long to learn and retain information. This tiny chic rose to the challenge and finished middle school with the same grades that her brother and sister did. She rarely complained. She recognized the mountain before her for what it was and she climbed and climbed. She made it to the top and she is doing back handsprings on the summit.

Looking back on this 4-year arduous, tear-stained, zitty, smelly trek, there were beautiful wellsprings along the way. She discovered that she has an innate ability to tumble like Mary Lou. She is marking 5’1” on the growth chart and we never dared to hope she would get out of the 4’ range. She has a delightful friend group. She has a crush on a boy. She has figured out over 80% of Algebra. She is moving on to high school with a big and still slightly-crooked, metallic smile.

As I reflect on her middle school season, I am encouraged and motivated to keep climbing (or just keep swimming) through the transitional and arduous seasons of my life. Learning patience and humility, mending relationships and eradicating bad habits can be grueling, but these are the times we have to get through in order to be ready for the next season. These lessons take time and they are often painful, but just like a cast on a broken leg they are vital if we are going to reach the summit and stand on steady legs.

We can’t rush the learning. By their very nature, healing, chiseling and seasoning take time. As much as M2 would have loved to skip the 8^th grade, she needed to learn foundational math and social etiquette and better hygiene in order to be ready for high school.

If you are in an arduous season of learning, be patient. Just keep swimming. You will eventually graduate and move on. These seasons feel sucky, but they are so good for you. You have to wear the cast if your broken leg is going to heal properly, and you have to endure the spiritual chiseling to be conformed to Christ. While you are in your personal 8^th grade season, drink deeply out of the wellsprings provided along the way. There are some amazing teachers and counselors and friends who are all around you. These saints have been put in your midst to encourage and cheer you on.

When you graduate, RUN! Remember the lessons, slam the door and leap into your new frontier.

 

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“and my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed,

nor will there be one after me.

I, even I, am the Lord,

and apart from me there is no savior.

do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.

because I provide water in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland,

to give drink to my people, my chosen,

the people I formed for myself

that they may proclaim my praise.”

Isaiah 43: 1-3,10-11, 19-21 (NIV)