Dear 16-year-old Me,

Dear 16-year-old Amanda, 

16-year-old Amanda Fashion at it's finest. Check out the laces on those shoes. LOL

You ARE beautiful. Stop looking for someone else to tell you this. More important than someone saying it, is you believing it. Remember that guy that called you “rat girl.” He actually asks you out this year. Let go of his words. Don’t spend so much energy worried about that pointy nose of yours or what some guy says about you. 

Wear your glasses. Stop despising that late-blooming, glasses-too-big-for-her-face, socially-awkward girl from junior high. She is you. And though you try so hard to leave her behind, it really is okay that you are a bit shy, an introvert, a dork, and that you wear glasses. God manages to use all that stuff about you for His Glory. And one day, you actually like you better with glasses (and, yes, apart from the convenience of being able to see. And, yes, you like you in glasses when your coolness is at its peak in college... not just in your dorky-mom days, thank you very much).

14-year-old Me, Oh that girl and her glasses :)

You are boy crazy. Okay—no need for me to tell you this, you already know. But seriously, chill out on this. I know who you are going to marry, and he’s amazing—UH-MAY-ZING. And you won’t see it coming, and you will remain clueless until the perfect time. God surprises you. Stop trying to peek under the wrapping paper at the present He wants to give you—constantly asking if the latest cute boy in your life is “the one.” Trust me, you WILL be surprised. And trust me, you will LOVE the surprise. Truly, you don’t need to waste all your brain power right now on the male gender. Most of those boys you are fretting over are not worth it.

You have some hard days ahead. You are going to make some whopper of mistakes. You are going to feel like a failure, like life isn’t worth living, like everyone has abandoned you… even God. Cry out. And trust me, when you do, God will be right there. God will fight for you. He will even work a miracle for you. Lean into His Grace. All those stupid decisions you are about to make (the ones that are so ugly you don’t want anyone to know about), His Grace will cover them. His Love will never fail you. His Grace abounds so greatly to you--He doesn't need or want you to beat yourself up over your mistakes. Give them to Him. He uses them for His Glory.

You work so hard at being seen, noticed. You think you have to flirt and know just what to say and do for the guys to want you. Trust me, they see you. You don't have do anything for them to notice you. And really, when you do meet that hunk-of-a-man who sweeps you off your feet, you won't care how many boys you dated or how many thought you pretty. You will like yourself best when you see yourself in that one special man's eyes.

Stop trying to jam your round-peg-self into the square hole. You ARE different. And that’s okay. It’s going to take you a while to figure this out, but God’s got a plan for your life and it’s not going to look like anyone else’s. That’s okay. In fact, it’s good.

Don’t be afraid to act on the Holy Spirit’s promptings. To date, He has not failed you yet.

Don’t be so timid about your faith. A few of those people who you are so worried about what they think of you, they make some really bad decisions that cost them everything. It might be worth the risk of embarrassment to speak up. (Pay particular attention to Kevin.)

Do work on caring less what other people think of you. Truth be told, it’s not so much that people have poor opinions of you… they just don’t really think of you at all. (i.e. you are not the center of everyone’s universe).

Be nice to your mom and work on rolling your eyes less. Believe it or not, you do not know everything, she knows way more than you think, and she actually becomes your dearest friend.

Do know that your dad loves you. He may stink at words, but he kicks butt at working hard to provide. Receive that as an expression of his love.

Be nice to your sister. Let her into your life a little more. Sure she’s a bit obnoxious when you have friends over and sure she eavesdrops on your conversations and then teases you about what she finds out, but she just wants to be a part of your life. Trust me, you will wish you hadn’t been so cruel one day, and you won’t care if she “deserved” it or not.

Spend more time with your grandparents. They really don’t live forever.

Oh, and just a couple things you might like to know: Mark McGrath actually becomes an entertainment reporter (Yep. Really. Perhaps his pictures don’t deserve so much wall-space?), and people stop telling you how much you look like Leelee Sobieski (either because you stop looking like her or she becomes obscure, I'm not sure which). 

This one is important: you are going to spend the day at your best friend Stephanie’s house. The two of you are going to be goofing off. She is going to moon you, and you are going to be tempted to one-up her by flashing her. Do not do this. I repeat, do not do this. Her dad comes home from work and walks in at that exact moment. Not only will you be horrifyingly embarrassed, it’ll pretty much end your friendship. Yeah. I know, right? Never. Going. To. Do. That. Again. Oh, and while I’m on the subject of embarrassing moments, avoid bikini’s with ties. They never serve you well. Perhaps, just avoid bikinis all together. Guys have great imaginations, they don’t need to see all that skin to find you attractive.

Your best days are still to come, Amanda. Hang in there.

You are loved, cherished, and beautiful,

29-year-old Amanda

I did this post as apart of a prompt from the blog Chatting at the Sky. I am a bit late, but it just seemed like fun and like something I would like my daughter to read one day. Emily P. Freeman just released a book for teen girls called Graceful. I have not read it to give it my official endorsement, but if you have a teenage girl or will soon have a teenage girl, I think you should give it a look. :)

Link to the Dear Me Link Up should you want to do your own or read more