"Words of Wisdom" To My 13 Year Old Self
I've always love this question. If I could go back and talk to myself when I was around 13 years old, what would I say to me? This was a time in my life that I was heavily involved in rodeo. When I went to rodeos I had a core group of friends who supported me, laughed with me and lifted me up. We were in competition together but that never got in the way of our close friendships. School was a different story, I had no "rodeo friends" at my school, most of the kids thought it was weird that I was into horses and rodeo. They were used to "hanging out" on Friday and Saturday nights, which was totally not the norm for me, but I really wanted to fit into the cool kids group at school. I started dressing like them, acting like them, talking like them. I was a totally different girl at school than what I was at the rodeo on the weekends. When I was at a rodeo I was "me," when I was at school, I was someone else. Now that I'm older I look back and think, why did you do that? Your love for the western world made you unique among your peers, it's so enduring and I'm sure if I would have displayed my passion for it, I would've been ostracized by some, but I would've found out who my true friends were. Instead, I went through friend fights, name callings, multiple trips to the counselor's office and even suspension from school all because I was trying to fit in. Not only that, I would love to go back and listen to what God was telling me at this time. "You are enough. You're beautiful just the way I made you. You are a good friend and people like you." Gosh, this would've been huge for me. In the church I grew up in, youth groups or youth events were not happening. I would've loved to have a had an event for girls my age to just be together in a safe and open environment where I could ask a mentor that I trusted, questions about God, friendships and boys. To have someone who would speak life into me, value and help me find my true identity as a daughter of the King. My parents were and are great, but so many times I didn't feel free to ask them the questions I needed to ask. Having someone I could trust to share things with besides just my friends who were going through the same junk as me, could've really prevented some feelings and mistakes I made along the way through my adolescence.
I asked this same question on a Facebook group that I help lead and these were a few of the comments I got:
-Know who you belong to and the value God places on you! You are worth waiting for! You don't need drugs and alcohol to have fun!
-You are good enough!
-Don't take to heart the hurtful things others say to or about you to heart. What is in their hearts doesn't have to be in yours.
-Your mother is the most beautiful, amazing, thoughtful and strong woman. Honor her. Let her teach you and let love override your perception. You never know what someone else is going through and how much a simple smile or hug of acceptance can impact them forever. Don't be afraid to love people.
-I would tell myself that I AM God's daughter and that's all that matters. GOD has created me just the way I am and He wouldn't change a thing! I would also tell me that my worth and value is found in God and not some guy that's paying attention to me for a few days...then I remind myself of that at 17.
-Know that Jesus is your friend!
-Believe in yourself.
-Follow the dreams God puts in your heart! He will make a way! Don't let others dash them!!
-Be Brave, stand up for yourself, believe in yourself and don't listen to others. Follow your dreams and let God lead you the way!
-Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior!!!!
I encourage you all, if you know of a young lady around this age, reach out to her. I can't tell you how much this might mean to her to know that someone is rooting for her. That you're in her corner to not discourage, discipline or bring her down but to lift her up and let her know how much she is valued by God. He believes in her just as much as you do!
This Friday will be our very first middle school girls gathering through our church. We're hosting it at my house and it's called Glam Camp! I'm so excited to see how God is going to show up on this night and we're praying for a revolution that will start with these girls. They were created to do HUGE things and why not start at the young age that they're at now? If you read this, please pray for their to be hearts transformed and set a fire with God's love!
Hope you all have a wonderful week,
Candace