Celebrating Everyday Women: Carolyne Bagala - Not defined by labels..

It's amazing how God turns the labels people mark on us into something beautifully purposeful.

Often, these labels are from people close to us whom we look at as our rays of hope and direction. The question is, what do you do when you are marked or called something you deeply feel you are not? 

Carolyne Bagala takes us away with her story.

"Hope isn’t something you find; it’s something you create (Write)." —Carolyne.

THE MESSAGE:

We often wait for that big job or the big launch to feel purposeful, but purpose is sometimes found in our very struggles, in lonely walks on the streets, in the weight of silent moments, and in those quiet, hidden spaces under the blanket.

My life has been a journey of ups and downs. I’ve often had to make the brave choice to see hope where the world offered me nothing but darkness. 

One of those dark rooms was a classroom. In my earlier years, a teacher asked me to read to the class. Just two or three lines in, she looked at me with disgust and told me to stop. She labeled me a “bad reader” right there in front of everyone.

It took me a long time to regain the self-esteem to speak or read in public again; I was living in a cage, all because one person had decided to label me. I realized then that I had a choice:

I could stay trapped in the teacher’s opinion, or I could believe God and believe that there was more in me than the labels of others. 

People often project their own insecurities onto us by calling us funny names, but in those very places of rejection, I chose to see the light.

The journey to healing

This inner healing led me to a life-changing moment. God spoke to me through a friend who suggested I should start a platform to give hope to the world.

I surrendered to the calling because I finally knew the truth: I am the best speaker there is because I am “made by God," not by the opinions of people. 

That was the birth of Thee Epistle 286, a platform enabling individuals to not only find but also awaken to their identity in God through the word and worship.

The impact on women

I used to think my story was only for me. But as I began to "write hope in the dark," I saw something miraculous happen. I watched as many women sitting under their own blankets of despair, shame, or physical pain found a mirror in my worship.

I began receiving messages saying, "Because of your worship, I am living better," or "I finally found the strength to pray again." "I've seen women find the courage to come out of their own shells to preach the Gospel because they saw me doing it. 

By worshiping in public while I was still healing in private, I was giving other women permission to go into "labor" with their own purposes.

The Reflection: The Sovereign Choice

When I look back at that young girl in the classroom, the one told to sit down and be silent, my heart overflows with a "sovereign" kind of gladness.

Am I glad I refused to be defined by that label? Yes, more than words can say. If I had accepted that teacher’s disguise as my truth, I would have buried the instrument meant for the nations. 

I am glad I chose the labor pains of growth over the "comfort" of a lie. 

Today, I don’t stand here as a "bad reader"; I stand here as a living epistle, written by the Spirit. I am living proof that when you refuse the labels of "man," you finally become free to wear the crown of God.

The lessons from my journey

If you are a woman or girl searching for your purpose, remember these truths from this story:

Your “bad reader” moment isn’t the end: 

The world might try to stop you at line two or three, but God has already written the whole book.

I have learned through my own journey that, just as Apostle Paul says in

1 Corinthians 1:27: God purposefully chooses the foolish and weak things of this world to confound the wise and mighty. 

The very voice that once felt silenced by labels is the one God is now using to change the world.

So let this be your truth, too: being “unqualified” in the eyes of people is often God’s best prerequisite for greatness.

Why do we love Carol's story? 

Despite Carol being so broken by her teacher's label "You are a bad reader." She chose to rise above the label and create something beautiful from the broken pieces.

Not only is she rising alone, but also with the next individual—enabling them to see themselves with their God-given labels, and that's what we call "purpose." The ability to rise and celebrate the next.

May we do something for the "next" person?