A Word of Encouragement to My Childhood Self
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| This is not the picture of me in the pink sailor shirt and purple pants. It is however, the closest picture I could find of me as a little girl. |
It was my favorite outfit. A pink sailor-type shirt and the cutest purple pants (at least I thought). Here I am, twelve years old in the sixth grade, just trying to make some friends. I was already as quiet as a mouse. My face, broken out with acne. And let's not forget, the biggest glasses with the thickest lenses you have ever seen. Hey, I'm just a girl trying to make friends.
Being the new kid was never easy for me. All of the stares from your classmates. I see them as I go to my new assigned seat, lean in and whisper God knows what to each other. The whole time their eyes are fixated upon me. "Are they talking about me?" I wonder to myself. "They don't even know me." I say. But after a few days, I was fine. The ice of being the new kid had been broken.
Now months have gone by. The class and I are outside for our break. And all of a sudden the words hit me smack in my face. "Erica, you wear the same clothes every week!" As if I didn't know this already. How could she say such a thing? Did she not notice that it didn't bother me that I wore the same clothes every week (or did it?) Did it not occur to her that maybe my mom couldn't afford to buy all of those Designer clothes that she always wore?
Truth be told, I was already uncomfortable with having to wear the same clothes every week. And the fact that she said something about it, made me feel even more uncomfortable. "If only I could get just one new outfit." I thought within myself. Talk about the pressure of fitting in. The pressure of being accepted and liked. Talk about being in a situation that you're too young to do anything about.
I'm much older now. Guess what? I still wear the same clothes every week. But there's a difference in me today than when I was twelve. Somewhere in all those years, Jesus Christ found me. He gave me a new outlook on material things. He spoke comforting words to me. He told me to be content with food and clothing (1 Timothy 6:8). Jesus showed me that what was more important was me, not what I wore.
Although I've never thought about it before, I wonder what I would say to my twelve-year-old-self, knowing what I know today. I believe that I would tell her exactly what Jesus told me. In fact, He still tells me these comforting words today. I would say, "Don't listen to her, Erica. She doesn't know what she's doing. She's just a kid. Besides, greater is the one inside of you than he who is in the world. And He says that you are beautiful. He says that you are more important to Him than what you wear." "So what if you wear the same clothes every week. The most important thing is that you have clothes. There are other children in the world who may not have that." "Put a smile on your face, Erica. You are blessed."
Today, I think about my sponsored child and the many that are around the world, even in my own neighborhood that may be going through the same thing. I imagine what they must feel having words such as the ones spoken to me being spoken to them. I pray for their little hearts. Oh that God would keep my sponsored child in perfect peach as she grows up in the life that she's been given. I pray that God helps her to understand and to know that it is not about what she wears. The most important thing to God is she and that no matter what she has or has not to wear, she is still blessed by an Almighty God.
What about you? What did you face growing up as a child that you wish that you could go back and give him/her the words of wisdom that you now know that would help him/her through that time?
"Having food and raiment
let us be therewith content."
(1 Timothy 6:8)
Sponsor a Child today.
This post was written as part of an assignment that I receive each month in a mission and partnership with Compassion International to help get children who live in poverty sponsored. Will you join me and the many others? Help us reach our goal of getting 3,160 children sponsored this month. It will be the best thing you will have ever done.
Sponsor a child who has been waiting over six months for a sponsor.
- Waiting 339 days
Togo9/17/2006Learn More
- Waiting 309 days
Haiti9/13/2003Learn More
- Waiting 216 days
Bolivia7/9/2009Learn More
- When you sponsor a child in poverty, your sponsored child will be linked directly to you. Your sponsored child will know your name and you will be able to write letters to each other.
Compassion International
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