Dear Me. {What I’d tell my teenage self}

Emily Freeman, author of Grace for the Good Girl, is celebrating the release of her newest book, Graceful, written especially for young women with a Dear Me letter writing campaign. She’s asked us to join forces in encouraging today’s young women with words of wisdom as we look back on our adolescent days, but with the perspective of years and life experience in mind.

Of course, this Dear Me endeavor resonates deeply with my heart for teens. I am a huge advocate of sharing what we’ve learned with this generation of maturing women. It is also the reason I wrote 100 Things I Want to Tell Teen Girls. These words were crafted for the girl I once was, but for the benefit of the girls I dearly love right now! So instead of writing a brand new Dear Me letter, I’m offering you a glimpse of a few of the 100 Things that are the most precious to me today.

1. We were made to be loved, by God first and foremost. Nothing else will ever compare to God’s love for you.
2. Your worth can not be determined by what others say about you, nor can it be based on your performance or accomplishments.
3. Define your beauty by how you live in the skin you’re in instead of how you look.
4. Be thankful.  A wise woman said that thanksgiving precedes the blessing.
5. It is okay to get angry, but make a decision to express your anger appropriately because uncontrolled anger is destructive. I’ve found that I can control my anger if I slow down my breathing, soften my words, keep my hands steady and down, while I count to 10 (or higher), and think about how I would want to be treated if I were in their shoes.  It also helps if I keep right with God about what is going on in my heart!
   
6. School work is not meaningless.  It is your job. And you’ll always have job, for the rest of your life.  Try to figure out how to do your job well by practicing now committing it to God and asking God for His favor with a desire in your heart to do it for His glory.
7. Carefully consider what personal things you share with others. My parents told me to not wear my heart on my sleeve, and I think there is wisdom in that advice, but I would change it up a bit:  Wear your heart on your sleeve, once the story can proclaim God’s glory and redemption. Share it when the healing is well underway.  God will use that type of story.
8. People are way more important than things, so put down your technology, toys, and pursuits in order to make time to be with people and make time to serve your family, school, neighborhood, and beyond. You’ll actually be refreshed by doing so.
9. Don’t put a person on a pedestal. The fall off hurts them and you, too.
10. Don’t miss today wishing for tomorrow.  It will come sooner than you think. Instead, turn it over to God, learning to trust God for His best.

I now know why I wrote 100 Things . . . it’s because I could hardly pick only ten from my list.

There is so much to reflect upon and to impress on the heart of the teens I am crazy about. Don’t you agree?

So I hope and pray you’ll take advantage of the opportunity to get your hands on 100 Things I Want to Tell Teenage Girls and also check out 100 Things I Want to Tell Moms & Mentors. I encourage you take the next step and print them out, then use them as conversation starters with your daughters, friends, and sisters in Christ. They would make a great devotional study, too!

{linking up with Chatting at the Sky}