“Why do you dress like a (Insert racial slur)?”

I am 14 years old. Just sitting around the pool that was owned by one of my Step Dad’s bosses. The person asking me this ... .My Step Dad's boss!

My cheeks immediately turned as red as that hot Georgia sun that was shining on us. I don’t know what to say.

I am embarrassed.

I am appalled.

I am angry.

He begins to laugh as if it's some inside joke. I look over at my Step Dad.

He says nothing.

I knew right then and there, this was something my Step Dad had been joking about at work behind my back. That hurt more than the words he said to me.

Outcasted for Outcast

Baggie pants, oversized shirt, rap music blaring, and white skin.

That was me in High School in the rural south. Rap music was not embraced by pop culture back then, and neither was I.

I was outcasted because I listened to Outcast.

My High School photos are both hilarious and humiliating to look at now. I still shake my head at my outfits. Why was I wearing pants that were literally 5 sizes too big.

I was like a foreign exchange student in High School. My outfits never fit in. I was a scrawny, white kid trying to look like Eminem, surrounded by farm kids.

I never completely fit in. It didn't really bother me though. I liked what I liked.

I was used to standing out. I was used to stares. I was even used to name calling.

But I guess you just never get used to a father not sticking up for you.

I can not imagine this scene happening to my kids, now. I love Jesus but I will still throw hands when it comes to my family. I might turn the other cheek if something is done to me but not for my wife and kids. I will break a cheek for them.

I am not that “saved” yet.

The Father Who Fights Back

Exodus 14:14

14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

You may have never been a white guy called the “N WORD” but I am certain you have faced your fair shares of accusations.

You may have been hurt in ways in which I can not even comprehend.

For that, I feel so much sorrow that happened to you.

I just want to gently remind you that you have a Father who sticks up for you. He advocates for you. He knows your name.

He knows who you are and He loves you all the same.

So you can rest today in your fighting:

You’re fighting to be understood
You’re fighting to be seen,

You’re fighting to be right,

You're fighting to fit in.

The battle has been won. You don't have to fight to win.

You are merely fighting the wind.

You have a Father who knows you completely, yet loves you fully.

A Father who would rather die than spend eternity without you.

Now, that’s something worth fighting for!

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