Dear Younger Me (Guard Your Heart)
Dear Younger Me,
Guard your heart. Your heart, your spirit, is a beautiful thing God has given to you. Protect what is there, and be careful with what you let in. You learned how important defense was in high school basketball. More than anything else on the court, playing solid defense was your job. You had some tough assignments to guard some talented opposing players, to keep them from getting the ball and scoring on your team. What if you learned to defend and guard your own heart?
The deceiver will trick you and make you doubt yourself, but oh, how I wish you would learn to recognize what are lies and what is true, before you let those doubts make their home in your heart. Guard your faith. Don’t let the circumstances of this broken world chip away at the faith you have in your God. In the book of 1 Timothy in the Bible, Paul writes to Timothy, saying, “Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you.” The faith that Timothy had needed to be protected because there would be other people he’d encounter who had different beliefs.
For you, it might not necessarily be other people who challenge your beliefs. It may be society, and it may just be the enemy beating you down. But guard what you have and don’t let go. Other words in Scripture say to hold fast to what is good and hold on to your crown. Hold on, guard your heart, protect the vulnerable places that your mind and heart are.
And the good news is, you aren’t alone in guarding your heart. You have the people around you to remind you of who you are and what the truth is. They help you, along with God’s Word, to reinforce your heart and mind. And you have God’s Word, you have Him, to woo you, to speak and sing His love over you.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Try new things. Remember that week of your life when your motto was “Try something new every day!”? You set aside preconceived notions and just let yourself be excited to experience what you hadn’t before. And now, you’re also brave and adventurous (sometimes) with menus at a restaurant, being willing to pick a new meal that you haven’t had before. And some day, you have a desire to go skydiving. Yet sometimes, there are things in life you are afraid of, and the fear holds you back from experiencing what otherwise could bring you joy.
Think about trying out for tennis. You’d never played the game before, hardly held a racquet, and yet you chose to try it. Can you remember if you were afraid? Can you remember if you were nervous? You might have been. Yet, what you will remember more is your desire to do it. And looking back, I can’t believe you weren’t more nervous to try out! Wouldn’t it be nice to approach every new thing like that?
It’s surprising what can happen when you give what you’re afraid of a chance. You might find you like it, and you might find that it really wasn’t so bad like you imagined it to be. You might find yourself thinking, “Why didn’t I do this years ago?” And there’s a sense of accomplishment that comes when you face your fear, too.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Be gracious. Yes, it’s far easier to extend grace to others than it is to yourself, but there are moments and days when you could extend a little more, you know? There are times you tend to be selfish, and then you let others get on your nerves instead of being loving, generous, forgiving, or understanding.
Proverbs 11:16 says, “A gracious woman gets honor, and violent men get riches.” I know you want to be that gracious woman. I know you want that heart of letting love be your highest goal as it says in 1 Corinthians 14. It’s not your natural inclination to be others-focused instead of self-focused, but that’s what love calls us to do. When your little sister ruins that collectible toy, when your ears hear words that pierce your heart, when you are asked to compromise over choosing what you really want, learn grace and love and understanding.
I think if you realized that what irritates you won’t matter in the long run, and that grace for the moment can change your perspective and attitude for the future, you won’t let the little things bother you quite so much. Yes, there are actions of others that will hurt you. Yes, there are actions of others that will simply rub you the wrong way. I’m not telling you to shove the pain away, but to acknowledge that there are sometimes things under the surface of those actions that you can’t see and might not understand until later. And, when you choose grace and forgiveness, you also choose a softer heart.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
If you have nothing else, you’re okay, because when you strip everything away, it’s just you and your Maker.
If all your relationships were taken away, if your skills and talents were gone, if you had no job…it wouldn’t matter because you have enough in the presence of the One who holds you and loves you. It’s like a child who makes a project and carries it around because they love it and are proud of their creation. Also, think about the love your parents had for you even before you were born. As a manifestation of their love, they loved you though you had nothing to offer them.
I also think that as a manifestation of your parents’ love, you are a manifestation of your Heavenly Father’s love. He wanted you and watched over you and purposed you, which makes simply you more important than anything else you could offer, or any other blessing He could offer you in this world.
Hold to Isaiah 54:5, “For your Maker is your husband — the LORD Almighty is his name — the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.”
You are a loved and valued child of the King, and the Maker loves you.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Oh, sweet one, if you only knew how much you don’t need to overthink. You sometimes hate your brain, but what if you saw your brain as a gift from God, with a beautiful gift to think analytically? You just need to learn how to apply that analytical brain in the right ways. Sometimes you over-analyze so much that you end up in fear and doubt and you lose yourself. Refuse that. Choose instead to stand on what you know is true.
Even the great gifts and blessings of God you overthink and overanalyze if you are really worthy of them. What if you recognized that though you aren’t worthy of God’s good gifts, you don’t have to overthink them and you can simply accept what God has given knowing that He loves to bless you, His child?
Jesus came to set you free from sin and brokenness and give you an abundant life. When you get stuck in your head, you aren’t living. God isn’t asking you to be God and have it all figured out. If you took a look at your track record of overthinking, I’m sure most often your overthinking hasn’t actually helped but made the situation worse. God is God, not you, and He’s already done all the thinking for you. What a relief! Of course, there are situations that call for proper analysis. It’s definitely okay to give proper weight to the right matters. However, lay down those matters you’ve tried to figure all out by grasping them in your two hands and with your own brain instead of holding it out to God in trust, in faith, and in gratitude.
Just imagine God smiling at you, saying, “Daughter, don’t overthink my love for you. Don’t overthink my gifts for you. Trust me.”
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Marvel at God. Don’t believe yourself when you believe you can’t see Him. There are times you struggle to experience joy and wonder, but when you make the choice to look for Him and find awe in what He does, you will see Him. You’ll find Him in a sunset, as the heavens declare His glory. You’ll find Him in a conversation with a family member. You’ll find Him as you listen to a phone conversation between two women, as one comforts the other through shared pain. You’ll find Him when you look at the blessings right in front of you with gratitude and appreciation.
While the people who walked with Jesus had the advantage of seeing His miracles and the wonders He was able to do, it doesn’t mean you can’t also be in awe of what He’s done and what He does and what He will do. Luke 9:43 says, “Awe gripped the people as they saw this majestic display of God’s power. While everyone was marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples…” You didn’t see Jesus walk on water or turn water into wine or make the blind see and the deaf hear, but you do see how Jesus brings people together. You do see the intricacies of the world and the things He has created (you’ll realize kiwis are really beautiful!). You do see the ways He has orchestrated your life and the people He has put in your life because He knew you needed them. You do see the way He works for and through and in others, too.
So choose awe, choose to marvel, and choose to praise God in the big and the small. Let His glory change you as you celebrate how amazing He is.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
God is a God who keeps His word. When you struggle to believe that God is here and He is with you and that He can make all things work for your good, remember He keeps His promises. The entire Bible and all the promises that pointed to Jesus came true, and knowing that, you can know the promises about Him that remain standing will also come true. The promises for you will also come true. Healing, freedom, peace – all have come and will come. God who has given you His own incredible gifts has and will equip you to steward and cherish them well.
Hebrews 6 tells you that it is impossible for God to lie, and it says in Isaiah 55, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” In this season, remember also the words spoken to Mary in Luke 1, “For no word from God will ever fail.”
This is true for the words God has spoken over you. You may not know what God has for you, and you also may wonder how on earth to handle what God has given you (even the blessings), but know that God’s plans and purposes and words that are over and within your life are ones that you can’t alter or change or break. His words are the best ones spoken over you because they are always true and will come true.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
When your heart cries, “Where is God?”, He’s not far. When you can’t seem to see what God is doing or where He is, start to thank Him for who He is and what He’s done. Go for a walk, and as you walk, list all you can think of. You might think it’s ironic how many times God’s people in the Bible had to be reminded of God’s provision for them (especially crossing the Red Sea, and how could they forget that!?!), but oh, how you do the same thing when your world gets dark. You forget His goodness, and you need to be reminded of who He is and what He’s done.
Even if in your present circumstance, you can’t see Him or what He’s doing, start with everything else. Thank Him for the ones you love, your education, your health, your job. Thank Him for the moments and seasons you saw His mighty hand of healing, the doors He opened to show His direction, and the lessons you have learned over the years that have only made you more like Jesus. Thank Him that even though you can’t see Him right now, that He is present, He is working in this, and He’s going to bring you through.
Praise Him for who He is – He’s sovereign, He’s present, He’s your King, He’s your Father, and your Redeemer. He’s Love, He’s grace, He’s justice.
Feel the anxiety fade away as you see God’s hand has been holding you and working in you throughout your life. God is a God who keeps His promises, and the God who promises is also going to sustain you and prepare you to receive the promise.
Sweet one, He is near. Your eyes and your mind and your heart can’t see beyond what’s right in front of you, but choose to remember, choose to thank Him.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
You will be complete someday. What a promise to hold onto, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion…but don’t forget that last part “until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). You are always in-progress, always growing, always being renewed and formed and shaped into who God wants you to be. I know you want that work to be finished now, to be complete now, to be perfect now, and there are battles and struggles and works in your life that you may see come to completion, but overall, the perfection you seek is not going to be complete until that day.
Just look at how you’ve grown and what Jesus has brought you through already. You aren’t who you used to be, and you’re not who you want to be yet, but what a gift to celebrate that you are constantly being made more and more like Jesus, and that you are being carried. What a joy and blessing that God doesn’t ask you to fix yourself and make yourself perfect!
Look forward with hope and confidence in the knowledge that someday you will be finished, and know and embrace right now the grace given you in your incompleteness. And until then, and as He completes you, find joy also in this: “The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple” (Psalm 27:4).
And wait patiently.
Love,
Megan
Dear Younger Me,
Jesus included you and includes you.
I know your struggles to fit in and feel included and valued, and I know how much it hurts to be left on the outside. Remember, though, that the greatest friend you can ever have chose you before you were born. He didn’t go to the cross for a few of His favorites. He went for the whole world, and that includes you. Every moment standing outside the circle, every moment the picture was taken without you, every moment you listened to others talk about that party – they can all pale in comparison when you realize that Jesus wants you, and that matters more than anything.
And He loves it when you include others. Live in the knowledge that you are loved, and then love others. You know what it feels like to be on the outside, so change that for others. Looking back, I would hope that you would become someone who sees the ones who need to be included, instead of being the one who seeks to be included. Just skip that step.
Remember that Jesus is the friend who includes you, who won’t leave, and who gave His life for you. There’s no greater act than that.
Love,
Megan
