Dear Younger Me,
You are beautiful! You don't see it. I know you don't see it. When you look in the mirror, you only see the words people have used to describe you. You only see the words that the world has used to describe beauty. Both of those are false. Both are untrue. Don't listen to the words of the world. Listen to the words of Your Heavenly Father.
What is true is that the One who created you, created you beautiful. Don't let anyone take that away from you. He sees your beauty.
Right now you are young. You are invinsible. You are also very impressionable. You take words to heart. You try to shrug it off, but it hurts you deep down inside. Words matter to you.
At this age, the majority of your days consist of you eating a Snickers bar and having a can of Mountain Dew for breakfast, pizza rolls, chocolate chip cookies and another can of Mountain Dew for lunch and whatever your mom fixes for dinner. This is what you eat and still remain a size 4. Enjoy this time!
Enjoy that gooey nugget and caramel wrapped in chocolate with that delicious peanut crunch. Eat one every day, because one day you will find yourself sneaking into your children's candy stash and stealing a tiny bite size Snickers just so you can have the taste. You may even get a little crazy and sneak a fun size.
Just to let you know, your children will find out. They may not see their socks that they continually leave on the floor or the trail of paper they left from their craft project, but they will know that you took one of their Snickers. You will have to admit you took it and apologize. You will be forgiven and then most likely they will offer you another Snickers. This one will taste even better because it came from the kindness of their hearts.
Stop drinking Mountain Dew. Seriously. There is absolutely no health benefits to Mountain Dew. It is sugar and caffeine. You don't need caffeine. You are young and have youthful energy. Enjoy it! Instead, drink water. Several cups a day, all throughout the day. You will get used to the taste (or lack thereof), you will survive, even thrive. Your skin will be thankful. When you are older, your insides will thank you....but I wont talk about that right now.
You may be able to eat everything in sight right now and remain a size 4, BUT THAT WILL CHANGE. Enjoy this time, honestly, please do, but also take this time to learn to enjoy exercise. It is so much easier to exercise when you are a size 4 than when you are a much higher double digit. Get up and get moving. Every. Day!
Once you have realized the truth, that He made you beautiful, make sure you concentrate more on your inner beauty than your outer beauty because your inner beauty will last your entire life.
Be kind. Smile. Say hello to a stranger.
Serve others. Think outside of you. That is very difficult. I know. But you will be a better person when you think of others more than you think of yourself.
Hold a door open for a stranger. Help an elderly person with their groceries. Smile at a crying child. Help the mother of the crying child. One day, that will be you.
Volunteer. Go outside your comfort zone where you have to rely solely on Him in order to get the work done. His work.
Sing songs of Praise even if you don't think you have the best voice. He thinks your voice is beautiful. Your praise is beautiful.
Respect yourself and only be around people who do the same.
You will meet many who will charm you. Look beyond the charm to see the truth. If he is charming one moment and mean spirited the next, move on, he is not for you. Don't waste your time thinking you can change him. You can't. Don't be in a hurry to find someone. God has someone for you in His perfect timing. Wait.
If he thinks of himself more than you. He is not the right one. You should only be second to God. Let him lead you. Let him encourage you. Let him help your relationship with God grow. Then, you will know he is the one.
If you feel comfortable in what you are wearing, and you truly believe what you wear is honoring to God, then don't worry about what the world says. You don't need to show off your body in order to be beautiful. The man God has for you will see the beauty in your modesty.
Chivalry is not dead.
Let a man open a door for you. You will not be weaken by his acts of chivalry. He will not see you as helpless. You will not loose the ability to care for yourself. You will not loose your identity. You will still be able to feed and clothe yourself. You will not turn into a helpless being. You will still be able to open your own doors when he is not around. Honest! Let him be a man and care for you. It is part of God's great design.
Dear Young Ladies of today,
You are beautiful! Don't let anyone tell you differently. Don't believe the lies of what the world says beauty is. You are beauty! True beauty!
I am thankful I grew up before social media. Before selfies. I was already broken. I am sure I would have been broken even more. I don't know how young women get through today. Their whole life is out there for the entire world to see. People mess up. I've messed up. At least when I messed up there was a smaller audience that witnessed it.
I encourage you to spend time with Him. I encourage you to work on your inside beauty. I encourage you to look past what the world says and realize what God says. You are loved. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!
You are beautiful! You don't see it. I know you don't see it. When you look in the mirror, you only see the words people have used to describe you. You only see the words that the world has used to describe beauty. Both of those are false. Both are untrue. Don't listen to the words of the world. Listen to the words of Your Heavenly Father.
(Welcome to the late 80's/early 90's! Big hair, permed to make it bigger, gotta have the Aqua Net, Sun In fading, roots showing, why on earth and I wearing my pants that high!)
Right now you are young. You are invinsible. You are also very impressionable. You take words to heart. You try to shrug it off, but it hurts you deep down inside. Words matter to you.
At this age, the majority of your days consist of you eating a Snickers bar and having a can of Mountain Dew for breakfast, pizza rolls, chocolate chip cookies and another can of Mountain Dew for lunch and whatever your mom fixes for dinner. This is what you eat and still remain a size 4. Enjoy this time!
Enjoy that gooey nugget and caramel wrapped in chocolate with that delicious peanut crunch. Eat one every day, because one day you will find yourself sneaking into your children's candy stash and stealing a tiny bite size Snickers just so you can have the taste. You may even get a little crazy and sneak a fun size.
Just to let you know, your children will find out. They may not see their socks that they continually leave on the floor or the trail of paper they left from their craft project, but they will know that you took one of their Snickers. You will have to admit you took it and apologize. You will be forgiven and then most likely they will offer you another Snickers. This one will taste even better because it came from the kindness of their hearts.
Stop drinking Mountain Dew. Seriously. There is absolutely no health benefits to Mountain Dew. It is sugar and caffeine. You don't need caffeine. You are young and have youthful energy. Enjoy it! Instead, drink water. Several cups a day, all throughout the day. You will get used to the taste (or lack thereof), you will survive, even thrive. Your skin will be thankful. When you are older, your insides will thank you....but I wont talk about that right now.
You may be able to eat everything in sight right now and remain a size 4, BUT THAT WILL CHANGE. Enjoy this time, honestly, please do, but also take this time to learn to enjoy exercise. It is so much easier to exercise when you are a size 4 than when you are a much higher double digit. Get up and get moving. Every. Day!
Once you have realized the truth, that He made you beautiful, make sure you concentrate more on your inner beauty than your outer beauty because your inner beauty will last your entire life.
Be kind. Smile. Say hello to a stranger.
Serve others. Think outside of you. That is very difficult. I know. But you will be a better person when you think of others more than you think of yourself.
Hold a door open for a stranger. Help an elderly person with their groceries. Smile at a crying child. Help the mother of the crying child. One day, that will be you.
Volunteer. Go outside your comfort zone where you have to rely solely on Him in order to get the work done. His work.
Sing songs of Praise even if you don't think you have the best voice. He thinks your voice is beautiful. Your praise is beautiful.
(Early 2000's. Already divorced for a few years. Engaged to a "charming" man. Thankful my eyes opened and I did not go through with the wedding. I did not think I was beautiful. I did not think I was worth anything.)
Respect yourself and only be around people who do the same.
You will meet many who will charm you. Look beyond the charm to see the truth. If he is charming one moment and mean spirited the next, move on, he is not for you. Don't waste your time thinking you can change him. You can't. Don't be in a hurry to find someone. God has someone for you in His perfect timing. Wait.
If he thinks of himself more than you. He is not the right one. You should only be second to God. Let him lead you. Let him encourage you. Let him help your relationship with God grow. Then, you will know he is the one.
If you feel comfortable in what you are wearing, and you truly believe what you wear is honoring to God, then don't worry about what the world says. You don't need to show off your body in order to be beautiful. The man God has for you will see the beauty in your modesty.
Chivalry is not dead.
Let a man open a door for you. You will not be weaken by his acts of chivalry. He will not see you as helpless. You will not loose the ability to care for yourself. You will not loose your identity. You will still be able to feed and clothe yourself. You will not turn into a helpless being. You will still be able to open your own doors when he is not around. Honest! Let him be a man and care for you. It is part of God's great design.
Dear Young Ladies of today,
You are beautiful! Don't let anyone tell you differently. Don't believe the lies of what the world says beauty is. You are beauty! True beauty!
I am thankful I grew up before social media. Before selfies. I was already broken. I am sure I would have been broken even more. I don't know how young women get through today. Their whole life is out there for the entire world to see. People mess up. I've messed up. At least when I messed up there was a smaller audience that witnessed it.
I encourage you to spend time with Him. I encourage you to work on your inside beauty. I encourage you to look past what the world says and realize what God says. You are loved. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!
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