Dear 21 Year Old Me,

Dear 21 Year Old Me.

I just wanted to start out by saying, that you are a talented, vivacious, joyful, lovely young woman.

{Kids I nannied for}

  I know you don’t know what your giftings are yet, and that bugs you.  You wish God would just show you already, so you could use them for His glory.  In due time, you will see them arise, and they will really surprise you!  The ministry you prayed for, will come, but not in the way you expected, God is cool like that.

21-year-old Tonya, I know you don’t like what you see in the mirror, but you are beautiful.  Someday, you will see it.  You’ll look back at photos and wonder why you didn’t appreciate it.

You see, age and babies will make the body you find flawed, even more flawed.

And suddenly, you will realize it’s not important anymore.  All the things that seem SO big right now, really aren’t that big at all, not in the grand picture of your life.

I know you are dreaming of your Happily Ever After, after all, you’ve JUST married your Prince Charming.

All is right in your World.

This is IT:

  The moment you’ve been waiting for your whole life.

Your fairytale love story come true.

 

Your reward from God for doing things HIS way, right!?

Silly little girl, that’s not the way it works.

Your rewards are not on this earth, for this is not your home.

You will overcome MUCH adversity in the years to come.

You will.

Don’t be scared.

Listen to me…..

Don’t waste a SECOND of your beautiful life with your dashing husband, worrying about what I am hinting at.

Don’t ever stop spreading sunshine.

Don’t ever stop making life’s lemons into lemonade.

Don’t ever stop choosing Jesus.

Don’t ever stop choosing the hard “right thing”.

Listen to me, Tonya, never, EVER give up.

You are FAR stronger than you know.

You are!

You will see that in the years to come.  That shy little girl you are inside, turns into a roaring lion, when it comes time to fight for something she holds so dear.

And fight you will:

When it comes to having children.

When it comes to choosing Love.

When it comes time to stand by your Marriage in the face of adversity.

All of it, a battle with the devil.

You will win.

You know that, right!?

Victory is yours, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus.

It’s going to be hard.

The hardest things you’ve ever been through, EVER.  You will want to lay down and die.

Don’t.

You are stronger than you know. You will face adversity head on.  You will be blessed beyond measure, and your cup with run over with the goodness of it all.

Never stop smiling. 

Never stop choosing joy.

Tonya-land is a GREAT place to live!  It goes away for a season, but it comes back.  In fact, it comes back even better than before, because you’ve seen the other side.

The darkness is ugly.

You will know that full well.

But you know what, 21-year-old Tonya…..

It makes walking back into the sunshine, that much better!

Love,

The 31 Year Old You

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