You! Yeah, you! Guess what? You're beautiful.

We all have those days where the world seems against us. When, for no particular reason, everything everyone does just discourages you or annoys you. Where every glance, every word, builds up until your day is an agglomeration of disappointment, discouragement, and pain. Maybe it was a comment someone made. Maybe it was an attitude someone had towards you. Whatever those things are that discourage you, I'm sure we've all been familiar with them. 

I would like to just write a post about you. You. You know who you are. You're the one reading this post.

You were just scrolling along your blog newsfeed and the title of this blog post caught your eye. You decided you'd like to read my blog, so you clicked on over to The Word Crafter. You've been through a lot and you've had a hard day. Just close your eyes and let that fatigue, that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, that sadness, let that all wash over you. Yeah, you've had a hard day.

But you know what? You are the most beautiful, unique, smart, kind, talented person I've ever met. You have a way of touching other people's lives, that wherever you go, you leave a trail of good-feeling behind you. You are strong, so strong. You set an example for everyone around you. Even though you stumble sometimes, we all do. You're not alone in this struggle of yours. There are millions of people all around this globe that are feeling the same emotions you're feeling right now, and even though it might be hard to realize right now, you can be certain, as surely as the sun rises every morning, that you will overcome this tough stage in your life, and you will be the bigger and better person because of it.

You know that person in your life, that person who's life goal it is to tear you down and make you feel horrible about yourself? Maybe it's a boyfriend, or a best friend, or maybe even a family member, like your mom or your dad, or maybe a brother or a sister. I know it's ridiculous to even think about, considering everything bad they've done to you, but you need to forgive them. Think about all those things they've said to you; and just let it go. Hard day? Yeah...

I would like to tell you how much I appreciate you. You are such a blessing, to everyone around you, even if you don't realize it. 

I wish I could make you realize just how wonderful you are, just the way you are. And I wish I could make you also realize how much God loves you. Our minds are so small that we can't even imagine it. Even though we fail, and we sin, and we screw everything up, and we ignore Him, and we are arrogant and think we are in control of everything, He loves us. And just because of that guarantee of His perfect love, we should be singing and smiling and praising and dancing until the end of our days. 

Hard day? I know a little bit about those. But so does He. He has seen every day in every person's life every since the beginning of time. And you know what? He cares about your day. I encourage you to talk to Him. You'll find the best friend you'll ever have. And even though He seems far away sometimes, I promise you He's not. He knows you better than you know yourself; after all, He created you.

Stay beautiful.

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important." -The Help. 

If you ever need someone to talk to, just shoot me an email or leave me a comment with yours, and I'll get back to you. I'll be here to listen, if you need someone to. 

the only one we have to please

Fat. Ugly. Annoying. Weird. Loud. No one likes me. I'm not good at anything. I'm not going anywhere with my life. 

Does any of that sound familiar? That voice that always present in your mind - whispering that you're not good enough. That despair when you start to believe those whispers. That hatred that builds up within you - not hatred towards anybody else, but hatred towards yourself. 

That feeling of incompetence, inability; that feeling of I'm just not good enough. Yeah, that feeling? It's been a constant companion for the past three years, or longer. It's just always been in my life. As long as that demon has clung to me, I've been insecure, clinging to meaningless compliments, stretching those compliments as far as I could before I discarded them. Instead of appreciating the opinion of others, I lived for it. It was the only way that I could feel good about myself.

This happens to a lot of us girls. I already see that spirit of dissatisfaction starting in my little sister, and what hurts the most is that I feel like I planted it there. I was always complaining about how I looked, I was always trying to lose weight, or buy more clothes, or perfect my hair and makeup. How could a little girl be happy with what she looked like when her older sister was constantly showing her that it's not okay to like how you look. 

2012? Yeah, I'm changing that. With the help of God, I'm going to leave this demon behind me. I'm not going to be cocky - but confident. I'm taking the opinion of others and throwing it in the trash, because that's all it is. Junk. I don't care if the opinion of others is positive or negative, because there is only one person we need to please and He couldn't care less what kind of clothes we wear, or how pretty we are, or how athletic. I'm laughing because of how pathetic and childish I've been these last couple of years. I got so caught up in Satan's lies, I didn't even realize it. 

My generation's identity is on the opinion of others. Think about it, girls. When was the last time you looked in the mirror and didn't think "oh crap my hair sucks today..." or "wow my makeup is awful" or "why am I so ugly?" When was the last time you looked in the mirror and was like "I may not be perfect, but God made me in His image and He loves me. So I'm going to keep my head up, not listen to the chitter-chatter of this world, and be confident. Not because I think I look good, but because the only one who matters loves me more than I can imagine."

I challenge you, ladies. As Christians in this twisted generation, we are the lights, we are the salt. We have to stand up, we have to set examples, for our friends, for our younger sisters, for strangers. 

Our identity is not based on what we look like. You can't take credit for your beauty. If you're pretty, it's because God made you pretty. What you look like has nothing to do with you. The beauty we should be concerned with is our inward beauty, which to me is so much more important than our outward beauty.

It's repulsive that my generation (including me!) is so obsessed with outward appearances. Obsessed. We're obsessed, possessed, whatever. Satan has a pretty strong hold on our generation, girls. We have to see that, recognize that, and change that. 

My new years resolution? I have a few...

To stop basing my identity on the opinion of others.

To stop the feeling of I'm not good enough.

To stop looking in the mirror and hating what I see.

To stop obsessing over compliments.

To start setting an example for my little sister.

To start setting an example for my friends.

To start building others up.

To start seeing God in others.

To start showing God to others.

To start making my actions louder than my words.

To start being unconditionally rooted in God.

To not saying God I'm ugly but saying I am made in God's image.

To realize God's incomprehensible love for me.

To understand my responsibility as a young Christian girl to bring the light to the people around me.

To live this year WITHOUT the demons that have haunted me for so long.

That's me. I look at that picture and see all of the imperfections in my skin, my smile, my hair, my eyes, my eyebrows. And that has to STOP. 

Who's with me?