Advice to My Eighteen-year-old Self (Part 4)

 

While in Dallas over Christmas, my husband and I got to see an early release screening of the movie Jesus Revolution. Tonight, it was officially released in the movie theaters, so we had to go again. Once again, it was an amazing movie about a generation desperately seeking something real. During much of the movie, several young adults were trying to find love and acceptance. Eventually, they realized it was with God, even though God showed that love through flawed individuals. As I think back to my eighteen-year-old self, I remember being extremely self-conscious. In my head, I felt like I had nothing to offer, so why would anyone want to talk to me? I closed myself off and isolated. When I had that life-changing encounter with God I found my value wasn't in anything I could offer. When you think about it, what could I bring a God who has everything and made everything? But that is exactly what God wanted-me. My value is His love for me. I can't do anything to earn it. He simply loves me because I am His child. As I grew in confidence in who I am in Christ, I began to step out of the walls of isolation and let people see the goofy, dry-witted nerd that I am. So what would I tell my eighteen-year-old self? 4) My value is not in whether people will like me or accept me. My acceptance has already been given by Christ and that is enough. I will meet many people in my life, and some will like me. Some will not. If I devalue myself based on other's acceptance or lack thereof, I am devaluing God's creation. When we look at the intricacies of nature, the human body, even the cell, we know God created complex and beautiful things. He created you and me, why would I be any different than the other magnificent things He created. So, the real truth is, you are already accepted, valued, and matter to the Creator of the universe. He cares about you and that is something real you can hold to.
Have  a great week high-heeled warriors!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Is Love? Loving When It's Hard.

Image
  I want to start by saying this has been one of the most straining weeks my husband and I have experienced in a while. As many know, my husband's father nearly passed away this week. He has been sick for a few weeks. My husband had a feeling, prompted by the Holy Spirit, that he needed to get his dad to the hospital on Sunday evening. His dad had a doctor's appointment for Tuesday, but he felt like it needed to be right away. He was admitted into the hospital, and by Wednesday, his dad had sepsis. The doctors gave his dad eight hours to live. We watched his pulse and blood pressure plummet and waited for the inevitable. Meanwhile, we prayed that God would move. A miracle occurred, and he began to improve. He has been taken off the ventilator and is breathing on his own with a steady blood pressure. During all of this, my husband and I celebrated our 27th anniversary. Neither of us had hardly any sleep the first 24 hours. My husband only had 3 hours of sleep for 72 hours, so ...
Read more

Update: My Daughter's Latest EEG Six Years This Week After Brain Surgery

Image
  A couple of weeks ago, I went with my daughter to her yearly neurologist appointment. They have slowly been lowering her seizure medication. It's easy to worry after all that we've been through, but as we visited the bathroom in the waiting room, we had a little reminder to trust God. There on the paper towel dispenser was a little Jesus. It reminded us He's always with us, even in hard times. The neurologist wanted to do a new EEG. The last one was a couple of years ago and was inconclusive. We scheduled the new EEG for last week. After prayer and remembering Jesus is with us, we went. She received the results the next day. No seizure or abnormal activity! Every year that passes is good news. We are so thankful that God is faithful, and Jesus is always with us! Have a great week high-heeled warriors!
Read more

Ready to Die?

Image
  We celebrated the home coming of one of the longest-attending members of our church. I've been to funerals that were extremely sad, and I've found that I'm an empathetic cryer. I attended a funeral with a friend. I didn't know the deceased, but as we walked by the casket at the end of the funeral, I messy cried. As I heard and saw the family crying, I couldn't help it. I've been asked to sing in a lot of funerals. This empathetic crying has made it difficult to sing. A few years ago, I mentioned to a couple of friends about my messy crying and worried about losing my composure during the song. The husband had shoulder surgery the day before and was on some really strong pain killers. As I sat behind the piano and looked out at the crowd, he smiled extremely big in his painkiller-induced state and gave me a very visible thumbs up sign. At that point, I struggled not to laugh. Crying was forgotten. I say all of this because this weekend, I was preparing for cry...
Read more