The Anecdote to Betrayal

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him." (Job 13:15)

A story and lesson I feel is worth sharing:

I recently found myself face to face with someone from my past who thoroughly betrayed me and I strongly believe tried to sabotage the completion of Master's Degree. No this is not an opening to a Grisham novel, this is real life. Let me get you caught up without completely disclosing names, dates, or social security numbers.

In 2007 I was at the end of my tenure as a Master's Candidate and I was getting ready for my Master's Thesis defense. Everything dealing with the thesis process up until this point had been extremely smooth. I knew God had a plan for me to finish my degree and graduate on time because my other classmates were all having a tough time. A couple of weeks before my defense I got a call from one of my Professors asking me to meet her at the school. I get to her office and she tells me that a "friend" of mine complained that I was fraternizing inappropriately with undergraduates and had taken her to a party where she felt uncomfortable. My Professor told me to be careful who my "friends" are and focus on defending my thesis. Flabbergasted I had a whole heap of emotions. I felt betrayed, undermined, lied on, and wanted revenge. I never said anything to this "friend", I prayed, cut all ties and never spoke with her again, until recently when I was face to face with her.

Now, it is human nature to defend yourself against falsified accusations and defamation of character. Those of you who know me personally know that I take pride in and work hard at being a woman of moral character. Those of you who don't know me I will say this: The heffa lied on me.

My situation was unique in Graduate School because I went straight to Graduate School from Undergrad. So I was a young graduate student. My Undergraduate Institution was different than many because it didn't have a formal campus the city was its campus. So when I got to Graduate School I took full advantage of the typical college life that I missed in Undergrad. I pledged, went to parties, step shows, joined campus organizations, and made friends who were both undergraduate and graduate students. I was 23 years old and having the time of my life!

Now we all know our "friends" the ones who like to party and the ones don't. The judgmental "friend" and the down for whatever "friend". On the night of the party I was at  this "friend's" house. She was hosting a dinner party. When her party ended and everyone was leaving she started asking everyone where they were going? Hesitantly, I said I was going to my friend's birthday party. My "friend" said "can I come?" I told her, that she may not like it because it was an undergraduate party. I also warned her that my friend throwing the party is gay and she may be uncomfortable because she had expressed being uncomfortable around gays in the past. She still insisted on coming. So we went and she left within 5 minutes of being there. But then goes and complains about me? Something is not right!

OK now that you have the background info, let's fast forward. After years of not speaking to her I was faced with having to be around her in a social gathering of mutual friends. I honestly, tried to divert my attention to the unlimited mimosas but just being in her presence brought back that same feeling I had in the pit of my stomach the day I met with my Professor. I wanted answers or maybe I just wanted to take my hand and wring her neck...I'm not sure. But I prayed, the entire time I spoke to God. And every time I speak to Him He reveals himself in some way.

I listened to this girl talk about her life and I realized she's struggling with something much deeper than what she did to me. And what she did doesn't matter. I have my degree, I am successful, and my life is fulfilling. People are going to lie on you,"friends" will betray you, and you will be hurt because of it, however, realizing the blessing and the lesson through the hurt it is the anecdote. Besides, our version of betrayal is nothing to Jesus' story.

I choose the anecdote.