God Nods
This newsletter is all about how to be Anti-Generic. And one of the most important things you need to do to stay anti-generic is to live the fullest, truest version of yourself.
Sometimes this means saying or doing things that are a little off the wall and really don't make sense to other people.
Let me give you an example.
When I was 20, I spent a semester living in France. One weekend, I decided to go with some new friends down to Barcelona. While I was there, I went to a cafe alone, and my entire backpack was stolen.
This book bag contained:
my wallet
my passport
all of my credit cards
my keys to my apartment in France
my train ticket to get back to the United States
Everything.
Having my belongings stolen in a foreign country where I didn't speak the language was probably on my top ten list of things that could go wrong.
But once it happened, I realized it really wasn't so bad.
I was still healthy, and I was able to navigate through the situation by going to the Barcelona police department and making a police report, calling my parents from the Barcelona police station in the middle of the night (for them) so they could freeze the credit cards, and later going to the consulate in Marseille to replace my passport.
It was not ideal... but I escaped the situation without too much damage.
The theft happened in October.
For Christmas, I asked my parents if I could have a new wallet as my Christmas present. The wallet that had been stolen was one that my mother had found for me, and it was the perfect size, the perfect color, the perfect shape, all of it.
As Christmas got closer, I shopped for the wallet but could never find one that I liked. I asked my parents if I could just leave that gift on hold and wait until I found one I really loved to purchase.
That's when my mother said, "I'm going to pray that you get that wallet back."
This was my mother being her true self.
I thought this idea was crazy. I remember thinking God had way bigger things to do than to worry about my wallet that was stolen in Barcelona months ago.
I outright told her not to do that. God had way more important things to worry about, and she insisted, "No, I'm gonna pray, and you're gonna get your wallet back."
Fast forward to March of the next year. I was home on spring break, and there was a knock at my parents' front door.
The postman was there with a package from the Barcelona Police Department.
I opened the package and there was my stolen wallet.
There were no credit cards inside, but some of my documentation, including my stolen passport, was still inside the wallet.
By her insistence on praying that I got that wallet back, and by God's faithfulness in answering her crazy prayer, my faith was strengthened to a level it had never been before.
Ever since that moment, I have known that God cares about the little things and that nothing that is important to us is too small to bring to Him, however superficial it may feel.
So what does this have to do with being Anti-Generic?
Quite simply, my mother was anti-generic in saying she would pray for my stolen wallet and in being so confident that I would indeed get it back.
It made her sound a little crazy. It seemed ridiculous and, quite frankly, weird.
But it worked.
And because she was willing to risk being anti-generic, I got my wallet back, AND I got my faith strengthened.
It was a God nod to me that He cares and that my mom was actually WAY smarter than I was in that situation.
If she hadn't been living out her anti-generic-ness, my faith wouldn't have been strengthened.
And I probably wouldn't have gotten my wallet back, either.
In closing out this week's message, being Anti-Generic isn't just about saying things that are controversial or contrarian. It's about living out your unique views, thoughts, and beliefs.
No matter who thinks they're crazy, kooky, or weird.
To your success (especially if it looks a little weird),
Anna
P.S. Do you have a similar story where someone’s wild belief has ended up teaching you a lifelong lesson? Send me an email and let me know. I read every message.