Dear Younger Me (Let God Be Your Tugboat)
Dear Younger Me,
You don’t have to have your future career all figured out, because God does! I know you feel the pressure to take the right classes in high school that could help you figure out what you want to do with your life, and I know when you get to your senior year, you’ll be wondering what major to choose, which will determine which colleges you visit and apply to, and that’s a lot. But girl, just ride the current! You’re going to look back often and realize how God’s hand was all throughout your journey leading you along the way. Your worries about education and perfect grades and scholarships and jobs were met and far surpassed by the divine plan God designed for you.
Rest your head, relax, and take it step by step. Because this day in your future, you’re going to see how it all came together. How God is so good. How His blessings are beyond your wildest dreams. In the shoes you’re standing in today, you wish for clear direction or a passion for a specific career that you had since you were two like some of the kids in your class, but there’s a beauty for you in allowing God to be your tugboat, because you will see so much of His goodness as He leads you through the waters. So, trust He’s got you, and He will continue to have you!
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
When you read, “You shall have no other gods before me,” that applies to you, too. It seems like such an ancient commandment, in a world where many cultures worshipped gods for everything. But even though you have the knowledge that God is the only and one true God, you still do have other things that will and do take the place of God.
Your image, your desires, your job…all those things can take your eyes away and your heart away from God. The things your eyes focus on aren’t necessarily bad, but when you make them obsessions, you revere those things far more than you should. God is the giver and the sustainer, and He needs to have the number one place in your heart.
Make God your number one, sweet one. Because at the end of the age, He is the God above all you will spend eternity with, and while you won’t struggle with worshipping Him in eternity, right now is the time to hold onto Him, follow Him, seek Him, and keep your eyes on Him.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Change is good and necessary. You think you’re okay with change, but really, you only love change when it’s change you want and welcome. If something is about to be different that you don’t want to happen, you struggle with that. But if you look back at the hard changes in your life, you’ll see that every change worked to grow you and shape you.
And sometimes even the little, less monumental changes of plans you struggle with, too, because you’ve worked so hard to create and develop a plan only to have it fall through. And when the plans fall through, you begin to question God’s ultimate will or resent Plan B, instead of embracing what will come. Someday you’ll find yourself on a mission trip in South America, and you’ll see plans go out the window as you’re there, and you’ll have to learn to embrace letting go of plans.
And every time, you’ve found that what will come is still so good, too, that there’s a gift to experience in those times. Proverbs 16:9 says, “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” Your life would be so astronomically different if God let you plan your own way, but His plan, as you’ve found, is so much better! So much better than you could ever dream! I know that where I am today, I never could have planned myself, and I am so thankful and blessed that God doesn’t leave my life in my hands.
So if the plan changes, it may not be what you want in the moment, but I think you’re gonna see that God has something in the change that’s better than what you could have ever planned yourself!
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
If you’re not the best, it’s okay. I know your jealous and envious heart and how hard it is for you to watch others excel at the things you want to excel at. Sometimes, it’s a matter of talent and sometimes it’s a matter of putting the work in, but it is okay if you’re not the best. The question you should be asking is “Are you trying your best?” And, you should be championing the ones who are excelling. Your sisters and brothers in Christ who are achieving and using their gifts and talents for God’s glory should be celebrated. God never asked you to be the best at something. He just wants you to use what He’s given you for His glory. So, even if you dislike the well-roundedness that characterizes your abilities, that’s okay, because if you’re living for Him it doesn’t matter how excellent you are in the world’s eyes.
The Bible talks about how each one’s gifts are important like each part of the body is important. There are a lot of body parts that are obvious as being important (the eyes, lungs, heart, brain, stomach…), but even the smallest bone in the body, the stapes, is important because it helps with hearing. The cool thing is, it works with a couple other bones for the purpose of hearing, and while hearing isn’t totally reliant on the stapes, it is needed. So, while you may want others to be totally reliant on you for some amazing skill, you can know that being a part of a team of others is just as important in the work you are called to do.
Put the work in to grow, yes. But be careful of a drive to be number one, because that is not what defines you. You’re a child of God with God-given gifts, and so are your brothers and sisters. Work together.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
What you do is a privilege. Whatever stage of life you are in, know that what you are doing is a blessing and a gift. There are days you will “just carry on,” tired days, days you’ll just do what needs to be done so you can move on. What you’re missing is purpose. There’s a “why” behind the things you do, and I hope you won’t forget that. Whether in high school or college or beyond, when you lose your drive, remember these things:
You have people who look up to you, for starters. You’re an example and an inspiration to them. You may not realize it or think you are cool enough for people to consider you a role model, but consider that a privilege. Second, there are many people who would love to do what you do, but can’t for whatever reason. Third, and most important, the calling on your life means there is a greater purpose in what you do – you serve God and His people. When you’re longing for a fire to light up your heart in the work you do, that’s it. You are God’s vessel. When you get tired or wonder if what you do matters, remember the little moments that have the sparkles of God’s goodness all over them, the ones where He reminds you that what you’re doing has a purpose for Him.
And I know that you’ll struggle for a while to figure out what your “purpose” is, but I read in a book from a famous actress that her purpose is to glorify God. That’s the purpose that matters more than anything, and that purpose can be lived out no matter what stage of life you are in.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
You don’t have to earn a seat at God’s table.
You’ve been taught to earn your spot, and you know what it’s like to be afraid to lose your spot and what it’s like to lose it. When you think about what that felt like to be sent further down the bench, you relive that hurt. You fear messing up because you don’t want to be replaced. And even when you have worked hard for your seat you’re in, and you’re told you belong, you won’t feel like you do belong. You’ll be taught someday to answer why you belong at the table, and you’re going to struggle. You’ll have all the reasons why you don’t belong where you are, when your answer should take the other position.
The words of a Netflix show will stop you someday. An employee shares with her boss how she’s failing and gives him her resignation letter, and he looks at her and tells her she’ll always have a seat next to him. Sometimes you will fail, and sometimes you’ll do all you can and still you’ll fail, but God doesn’t give you a seat on your own merit. He doesn’t ask you to earn it, He doesn’t demote you. You have a seat at God’s table because Jesus made it possible for you to sit there. And accepting that gift is all it takes.
You have a seat with your God, no earning necessary.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Busy does not equal happy. Granted, resting doesn’t always equal happy either, but you’ll realize the beauty of rest someday. You’ll know what it’s like to be so busy you don’t have lots of time to sleep, and you’ll long for all the fun things to do on weekends and summers spent with the greatest adventures. But you’ll also one day realize how doing absolutely nothing can bring so much joy as well. Will resting mean you aren’t doing enough to push yourself up the ladder? Maybe. But when you run your ship aground, you aren’t going anywhere anyways. So, if you find yourself in a season where you need rest, then rest. Enjoy a Saturday not going anywhere. Take a nap. Appreciate the little things that bring you joy though you may not have a big goal you are working to achieve. Light a candle in the dark, sip some tea, take a bath, read a book. Call a friend, call your grandma, fix a puzzle.
Better yet, and this is a practice to develop, free time can also be spent with God. You aren’t used to giving Him time in the middle of your afternoon but instead giving Him the last awake moments before you sleep. Better and much more life-giving than a nap, though you will find that someday you adore naps, time spent with God fills your soul so much more. And you can’t get more time with Him when you’re running around doing everything else. And, for sure, there will be seasons where finding time with Him will naturally be more difficult. But, like Grandpa will tell you, even five minutes. Make that a habit.
Oh, how I want for you to be filled from beautiful time spent with the Living Water. So, while busy doesn’t equal happy, and rest doesn’t always equal happy, enough rest and time spent with Him bring joy.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Look out and look up…to others and God. When you live focused on yourself, you see all your faults, failures, and flaws, and that rules you. You forget God’s command to love others, and you forget to love God. Look out at others. Love them. Serve them. Hear them. Celebrate them. See God in them. Life isn’t all about you. In fact, it’s not about you. Your life needs to be about Him, and one of the ways you do that is by loving His people.
Look up at God. Look at Him. You’ll realize someday that honing in on your faults only seems to make them larger, but when you stop focusing on them and just look at God, you can see yourself more clearly. That’s not to say you ignore your mistakes and mess-ups, but rather you decide not to be absorbed by them. And when you look at God, you realize you aren’t Him. Behold His love and power and might and sovereignty and know He reigns and He’s over you. Marvel at Him. Rejoice in Him. Take the magnifying glass off examining yourself and instead magnify your God.
I know you want to be the best version of you and you see all these things you want to change about yourself, but the very best you is simply you in God. The best you is you running to His heart. The best you is you championing Him and His people.
So look out at His people, and look up at Him. In Colossians 3, it says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” That’s where your eyes and your mind should be.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Cherish the grace instead of the guilt. There’s that memory that’ll stick with you for your life, of that time when your mom bought you a big balloon at a school event and you accidentally let it go. You watched that balloon float to the gymnasium ceiling in tears, and it was sad you lost that balloon, but I think equally, if not more than that, you felt like a disappointment. And your mom, so gracious, bought you another balloon. And yet, in all the years since that night, it’s still the guilt that overrides the grace.
Girl, you have so much to learn about grace. You find it so hard to accept good things when you are living in the regret of your faults. Honey, you have to change where you fix your eyes. Your focus is on all the wrong, but God wants to lavish His grace on you, and grace should not be overlooked. God didn’t intend for our own guilt to overshadow His fantastic, indescribable grace. And I don’t know why Mom bought you another balloon that night, but I think it’s safe to say that she didn’t want you to stay stuck in remorse over that balloon you lost. She gave you another gift, and gifts are reasons to rejoice.
Learn from those moments, but don’t let the guilt rule you, because grace, whether from people, God, or God through His people, is a gift to be celebrated.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Happy Valentine’s Day, dear one. While it’s a day our culture celebrates romantic love, you’ve been raised by a wonderful family who has celebrated their love for you every Valentine’s Day. And while you are waiting for your Valentine and even when he comes, cherish God’s love letters He sends you through the people in your life.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul describes of the church, “Clearly you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This ‘letter’ is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.” The people and their faith were proof of God’s work through the ministry of Paul and other disciples. It makes me smile thinking a little further to the picture that each person in your life is a love letter of God as He’s worked in them, and you get to read the letter, too.
See God’s love through your dad who would do anything for you, your mom who answers the phone to listen to every fear and concern, your sisters who come close to hold and comfort you in your hurts, your friends who celebrate and delight in you each day, your coworkers who are your strength when you are weak, your grandparents who have always cheered you on, your aunts and uncles and cousins who smile when they see you, and when the time comes, the love of your life who will show you what pursuing love looks like through thick and thin.
As each one lives out characteristics of the love of Jesus for you, cherish them, and learn to see God’s love in them as gifts to you. Just know, sweet one, how incredibly loved you are, even if you don’t hear the words, “I love you” as often as you’d want, that you are loved more than you know by God’s people and by Him.
Love,
Megan
