Life of Beth=:) (Chapter 10 - 10th Grade)

In the 10th grade, God finally threw me a lifeline in the form of 3 new girls who moved to our school district. One was Jill, a very smart, extroverted, unashamed geek. Which is to say she actually preferred hanging out with smart people who spoke intelligently. Our small town school was not kind to kids who hadn't grown up with everybody else, so when I saw her floundering a bit, I befriended her. Or she befriended me - anyway, the end result was we became good friends and confidantes and remained so for the rest of high school and college. I was in her wedding, and the only reason I haven't spoken to her in years is that we lost touch when she was moving across the country right at the time I was planning my wedding. (Jill, if you stumble across this, email me - I miss you).

The other two girls were Barbara and Marsha - sisters, two years apart. Barb was my age, Marsha younger. Both very tall (they got nicknamed the Twin Towers, which were still standing at that time). Both musically inclined, so I got to know them both in band and chorus, as well as from sitting near Barb in homeroom.

Here's where the spiritual lifeline comes in - both Barb and Marsha were openly, radically unashamed of their Christian faith. They lived it out loud, they spoke with people about it, and they introduced me to Christian rock music. That may sound funny and trivial, but it was a HUGE thing in my life. These girls were the very first people my age who lived out a vibrant, tangible Christian faith.

It may sound dumb, but the first time Barb played a Petra song for me (popular 80's Christian rock band) it was like a light bulb went off in my head. There's rock music for Christians! Holy cow! (sorry, no pun intended). Music that sung about faith and lifted you up and was fun to listen to.

I became good friends with both of them and their folks, and they started inviting me to some of their youth group events. At those events I met a whole GROUP of kids our age who were on fire for Christ! Who had everyday discussions about what it means to be born again. Truly, it was a revelation for me, who had struggled along in my faith seemingly in a vacuum for the previous 7 years.

My life did not change overnight. I was still awkward and shy and a band geek. But finally, hallelujah, finally! I had friends my age who understood my struggle and who could encourage me as sisters in Christ.