Memorable

I was reminded today how very unmemorable I was in high school -- I bumped into someone I would have considered an acquaintance back then, and he looked at me today with faint recognition in his eye and asked, "Sarah, right?"

I laughed and told him my real name and he was appropriately flustered, so I tried to mitigate his embarrassment by remarking about how very long ago that was (13 years! How is that possible!). I didn't say (but could have), "Also, you were on the fringe of the cool crowd, and I was decidedly not."

I'm so glad high school's over. I'm so glad the rules of social interaction have relaxed and "cool" or "not cool" no longer defines us. I envy the high school kids that I know now who defy those categorizations and have discovered the secret that your identity can be secure regardless of the opinions of your peer group, and that "the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Gal. 5:6).

It took me a long time to figure that out, and I'm still figuring it out. It's true, though: while many from high school may only vaguely remember me, God says, "I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands" (Isa. 49:15b-16a).