One of the best books I’ve read this year is Michelle DeRusha’s beautiful, funny, and profound memoir called “Spiritual Misfit.” I’m honored to be guest-posting for her today, in her ongoing series about being a misfit. Here are the opening paragraphs of that essay . . .
All my life, I’ve been the one who didn’t quite fit. No matter where I’ve landed in my own spiritual journey, I’ve managed to be the one who is different — quirky, opinionated, on the edge.
I was the kid who had the most memory work badges and sang alto in the kids’ choir at our first church. But I was also the kid who hid out in the caretaker’s apartment, playing with his baby and talking to his wife instead of socializing around the punch bowl with the rest of the 5th graders.
We moved to a new town and a new church when I was 12. The youth group was huge and I went to every thing that was offered. I landed in the hard-working-leadership-tier, but never in the popular-kids-who-also-have-skills elite. And that was okay by me. I was tall and rangy and not terribly graceful. I was also physically fearful and lurking underneath my loud voice, an insecure, uncertain teenager.
I married young. It was a great decision for us, one that took us halfway around the world to live and work for two years. And I was really a misfit there. A southern California conservative looks nothing like a Pennsylvania holiness conservative and I found that out the hard way. Yet, somehow, we survived and even thrived in that beautiful place.
We had our kids early, and our grandkids even earlier. So for the last 40 years, we’ve been ahead of the curve by a long shot. And guess where that puts us now? Smack dab in the middle of just about everything. We find ourselves sandwiched between ailing parents, home-buying adult children, college-aged and pre-school grandkids.
We’ve found ourselves sandwiched between generations theologically, too —
Please come on over to Michelle’s beautiful space to read the rest of this weirdness. . .
hi Diana. If i remember, you have a memorial service tomorrow. been thinking of you and praying for you and then you have your foot surgery on Thursday?
I have not been surprised by the mix of feelings about losing a parent (in your case a MIL) but i have been a little surprised by people who tell me how I am going to feel about it. I wrote about it on my blog yesterday – thought you might “get it” too.
by the way, i just scheduled knee replacement for august 18 – yikes. what have i done. got to do it sooner or later…
the service was today, Carol, and then 25 immediate family members here for dinner. I am TIRED. And heading into that surgery on Thursday, so your prayers are appreciated. Yeah, there IS no right way to feel – that’s about all I can say about that. :>)