I needed to read this now more than ever… It’s my words from something I wrote years ago… And happened to stumble upon it tonight. It’s definitely worth sharing!
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It’s a little after 1:00 am on October 9th, 2014. I can’t sleep. Last night I witnessed tons of youth setting aside their differences and joining together on a field to hear stories from other students and their journey to overcoming obstacles in their lives.
Standing at a registration table, I witnessed children and teenagers who had difficulties on knowing who to write down as their “parents”. Some were in blended families. Some in foster care or the children’s home. Some living with friends. My heart broke. It seemed that in the middle of an identity crisis, they were having an identity crisis. Instead of the teenagers trying to only figure out who they were, they were also trying to figure out who their parents were.
Having lived on my own since I was twelve, bouncing from one place to the next, thankful for the people God had brought into my life to help me through those tough years, I struggled when I saw that look in their eyes. That lost look.
Where was their hope? Do they know that God will never leave them or forsake them? Do they know that He has a purpose and a plan for their lives? Do they know that their past is not their future?
I was blessed and broken when I heard one girl’s story. She was twelve years old with the world on her shoulders, having been through more than what some people will ever go through in a lifetime. As I prayed with her, she hugged me… And squeezed as if she never wanted to let go…
Guys & Gals, I am here to tell you that you are NOT who the world says you are. You are NOT who the enemy says you are. You are NOT who the past says you are. You may not even be who your friends, teachers, and parents say you are.
YOU ARE WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE!!! Don’t ever forget that! He has created YOU with a purpose and a plan! He is your hope! He can heal whatever has been broken! He can take every bad thing you have ever gone through or will go through and turn it into something great!
We don’t always understand why things happen the way do… Some things we may eventually understand, and some things we may never understand. But in all things we can trust God and know that He is carrying us through the tough times, and He is celebrating with us in the good.
Remember, people will fail you. You will fail you. Making mistakes is part of being human. We all fall. We can choose to stay down, or we can choose to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and keep moving forward toward the goal.
When everyone or everything of this world lets you down, God will be there to take your hand and guide you to victory. Don’t ever give up on Him! He will never give up on you!
