(TALL)beardeddoughboy
Tall….
I’ve always been tall! Obviously! It has been a curse and a blessing all at the same time. Some days I embrace the fact that I’m 6’8″. And others I can’t stand it. It feels like most everywhere I go I have people looking at me, often times they stop me and ask, “how tall are you?” or “did you play basketball?”. They usually say things like “I wish I had your height” or “if I had your height I’d be playing basketball!” or they tell me about a friend or family member who is tall like me. I usually just nod and smile and say thank you. Other times we talk for a few minutes and go on our way. The next time I see them in the store or out and about we smile and wave like old friends. And then there are times that I can see it coming and I avoid eye contact or steer clear of the situation all together. (I wonder if that’s how famous people feel sometimes when they get recognized?)
Growing up I hated being tall. I hated the attention and the name calling. I spent most of my middle school and high school years just trying to fit in and avoid unwanted attention. I think that’s where I learned to be a chameleon. I learned how to sit back and observe people to figure out the best way to fit in and not draw too much attention to myself (because my height drew enough attention as it was). It felt like there were all these expectations for me since I was tall, yet all I wanted to do was hang out with my friends or be out in the woods or making money some how! Of course looking back now I would have loved to stay in sports and be playing baseball or basketball and making millions, but that’s not the road I went down!
I’m not sure why the good Lord made me a tall fella. Maybe it’s for the times that I embrace it and hopefully let his light shine through a little. Or maybe it’s for those times that I don’t embrace it, those times when life gets tough but I just put one foot in front of the other and try to stay in good spirits knowing that someone might be watching. I guess I’ll just keep spending everyday looking to Him, doing my best, knowing eventually He will make it clear. Thy will (not mine) be done.