What I Would Tell My Past Self!!!

I was listening to 94.1 and they are talking a lot about what we would tell ourselves back when we were teenagers or just younger than we are now. I started thinking about that and man did the advice flow. I thought I'd make a list of the things I would tell my past self, my younger self.

#1: Spend as much time with your parents as you can. They do not seem very cool right now and all you really want to do is hang out with your friends. Most of those friends will not be around in 10 years and neither may one of your parents. Cherish every second with them and tell them you love them everyday. One day you may have to let one of them go and will be the hardest thing you have and will go through.

#2:Stop dating those boys. If you could only understand that God has an amazing man for you. He is already preparing him to be your husband and you will want to give him your heart. If you continue to give all these other boys your heart, there will not be much left for him. He will be everything you have dreamed of and more. He will love you like you have never been loved by a man and you will have an incredible marriage.

#3: Nobody will care in 10 years that you were Homecoming Queen. Stop worrying if you will win. You may think that it matters and that everyone will remember the dress you wore, the way your hair looked, and how elegantly you walked, but they won't. They really don't care. What they will remember is how you lived your life and how you treated them. Honor God with how you live. That is what you should be remembered by.

#4: Stop crying over those mean girls. They will say their your friends, but they really are not. They actually would love to see you fail so stop trying to impress them. One day, you will have amazing friends. You will meet friends in the next 10 years that will change your life. They will pray for you, weep with you, laugh with you, and be brutally honest with you. Just wait for those friendships that do not require you changing who you are. There will still be mean girls as you grow up but you just won't care quite as much.

#5: STOP EATING FRENCH FRIES!!! I know that you love them and that right now they are not affecting how great you look, but they will. They will catch up to you and you will want so badly to give them up and can't seem to. Just stop eating them now and then it won't be so hard later.

#6: Quit thinking you are fat!! Seriously, your waist is 22 inches and you wear a size 7/8 in jeans. You are 5'8 and that is pretty much perfect. Just because you see girls wearing a 0 does not mean your size 7 is big. You will not always be this size and will wish everyday you had this body back. But guess what, you will not be this size later in life because you will be a mommy and at that point, it will be all worth it.

#7: Don't just believe everything because someone at church told you it. Study it for yourself. Dig deep in the Word and figure out for yourself what is truth. Right now, at your school and the little bit that you are going to church, you are not learning true gospel. You are getting bits and pieces but you are missing so much. It is not their job to define your relationship with God, it is yours. You have to search and find what God says about you and Him. Yes, you are young, but you are also capable of learning deep spiritual truths. Don't wait until you are an adult to get that. DO IT NOW!!!

#8: Surrender to the Lord now. You have always been "good" but have never truly surrendered. Jesus doesn't want you works and until you get that, you will never truly surrender. Don't be a hindrance to the people around you by claiming Christ but never telling them about Him. Use these years to pour your heart out to God and watch Him move mountains. Don't wait until you are an adult to get that religion means nothing without a relationship with Jesus. Stop just "being good" and hand it all over to Jesus and live it out.

There is so much more I would tell my past self but these were my first thoughts. I hope that if you are reading this and you are still very young, heed these words from someone who has come out on the other side. I had some great memories of my past but I also have times that I wish I could go back and do things differently. Thank God for forgiveness and setting my feet on the right path. I am a work in progress and can't wait to see what my future self has in store.