The Hardship of a Favorite

A lot of people envy the family's "apple of the eye" and the class' "teacher's pet".

But what others do not see are the hardships a "favorite" undergoes.

How would I know?

I've been a "favorite". I'm the youngest in our family and of course, the usual notion is that the youngest is the favorite. I experienced being a teacher's pet in high school because of my academic standing. People might think I was "lucky", but I did not think so. Maybe a teacher liked me but a lot of my classmates did not. I was bullied in high school. My classmates would throw my things in the trash can, vandalize my notes, and even talk bad about me behind my back. Was it my choice to be a favorite? Of course not. Did the teacher who chose me as a favorite student intended for me to be bullied? Of course not.

Sadly, it happened. I didn't really care how much the teachers liked me, I'm more concerned how my classmates would think of me...and obviously they didn't like me because I was more favored by the teachers than them.

So how did I went through high school with those bullies?

I cried. I cried a lot...but not in front of my classmates. I actually almost gave up on going to school, or at least transfer to another classroom. But I did not. Why? Because my future was more important than the situation I had back then. If I gave up on my studies, I wouldn't be able to go to college. The only revenge I could do to those bullies was to not give in to what they want. I had the courage to write to our class adviser of what they did. Our whole class was threatened that we would not graduate because of that issue and of course my classmates all blamed me for it. I did not care what they would say, I just knew that I had to stand up for what is right.

To make the long story short, we all still graduated. As a class, we had an open forum to settle everything and to open up everything to each other. I shared my bitterness toward them and they shared their bitterness toward me. We forgave each other and moved on.

It was by God's grace that we are where we are right now. It's by God's grace as well that the bitterness in my heart was taken away through forgiveness. It was not easy, but I'm continuing to move on.

One thing I learned from that experience is that it helped me understand why God did not approve of favoritism. God does not show favoritism (Romans 2:11).

If you are a parent, a teacher or a leader, please DO NOT SHOW favoritism. You may have favor over someone but don't show it. I know it is hard to do for we are mere human beings, but we can always pray to God to help us to show equality with others.

A Love Story To Share

Love...

A topic all of us can relate to.

When I was younger, I thought I was in love. I had a wrong idea of love. I thought it's something we just feel. I thought when someone is so nice to me, he loves me already.

"Love kagad? Di ba pwedeng mabait lang talaga sya?!"

We all had that "kilig" factor. It's a feeling you get when someone you admire notices you or gives you something simple yet so valuable for you. It's what you feel after spending time with that person and you get to know someone better. Kahit simpleng "good morning" na pinadala via group message galing sa "kanya", kinikilig ka na. That's the "kilig" factor.

But, there's more to love than that.

What if the "kilig" factor is gone? What if the feeling is gone? Should we end the relationship? Should we stop calling it love and just call it “crush” instead. Candy crush – it was so sweet like a candy but we had to crush it. Candy crush. Get it? (Pagbigyan nyo na ako, minsan lang ako magjoke) :p

What is true love?

If there's TRUE love, is there a FAKE love?

Have you heard of this term: lightly dark?

It doesn't make sense, right?

So is fake love.

LOVE in itself is true.

Here's my story:

I met this guy. I only heard about him when I was a little girl. I haven't actually seen him before, but people told me that this guy loves me. "Stalker ba yan?", you might ask. Well, I don't know if we can call him that but he does watch me and knows what I do even before I got to meet him.

So where did I meet him?
In a small book store through a new found friend in college.

This new friend of mine introduced him to me personally. She told me that this guy loves me. I've heard of it before but somehow, at that moment, it made me wonder why this guy loves me. Why would someone love a person like me? A person so insecure, selfish and a people-pleaser. It didn't make sense to me. The love of God didn't make sense to me.

Yes, that guy I met was God. I didn't actually see him but I somehow met him on a personal level. Then I met his Son, Jesus Christ. My friend told me that Jesus loves me as well and he even died for me just to prove that.

Hindi nakakakilig ang mamatayan. Dying on the cross was how Jesus demonstrated his love for you. Yes, you. He didn't just love and died for me, he loves you and died for you as well.

Romans 5:8 (NIV)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:10 (NIV)

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

John 3:16 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This is my love story, your love story, our love story. And this love story is written in the bible.

We do not deserve this love, but he gave it anyway. We didn't ask for his love, but he gave it anyway.

Are you willing to accept his love for you?

Do you want to experience this kind of love as well?

Would you like to have a relationship with God?

If you say yes to these questions, send me a message and I'll let you know how, in a way that my college friend showed to me as well. :)