Friday, April 25, 2014

invisible lies

This post rests a little more personal than I usually prefer to sit. This blog post is a letter addressed to the teenage girls of the world, but the message is for everyone. To the girls who read this I hope you realize just how great you are, and to the boys I hope it changes the way you see and treat God's precious daughters.

The world is mean to teenage girls. The world is mean to all, but currently I reside in the time of life that one would call "teenage girl years". These years are filled with messages that tell you that "you aren't good enough" and while they haven't been as mean to me as they have been for some, they have indeed been a mountain to climb.

You know how medicine bottles will say "GRAPE FLAVOR!" like it is going to be some kind of amazing, delicious drink, and then come to find out the actual flavor of the medicine is "death, and the tears of small children?" Yet, somehow that disgusting spoonful of medicine somehow manages to make you feel better? This is an accurate description of what it is like to be a teenage girl living in the 21st century.

Satan feeds lies about what we are expected to be. Teenage girls are among the most receptive of these deceitful messages.

Hank Smith is one of my favorite motivational speakers. In his CD Break Up With the World he talks about how the world is obsessed "with comparing, competing, and never feeling that we are enough." As teenage girls we are bombarded with the message that we need to be taller, skinnier, healthier, more outgoing, more involved, smarter, prettier, more loved, richer, and stronger.

"take a girl to the grocery store, and let her look at the magazines. What will happen to her self esteem? It will fall. Why? Well she looks at that, and lets say she's standing next to a boy, and the boy says "Oh, that girl's so hot", and the girl looks at that and looks at her and says "I look nothing like that, so apparently I'm not." and her self esteem falls."

I, being a teenage girl, know exactly what this can feel like.

Just today we were sitting in our seminary class when our teacher asked the boy who sits behind me "When you're playing for keeps what is one quality that is non-negotiable for your future wife to have." The immediate, non-hesitant response that came out of his mouth was "tall." Now, this comment had nothing to do with me and he was in no means being rude at all, but being the fact that I stand roughly 4'10" tall this stung a little bit.

Now, Satan is very good at seizing these kinds of opportunities. He began to plant thoughts into my mind like "maybe all boys prefer tall girls", "you will never be tall enough", "this is why you have never been asked on a date", "you will never find someone because you lack vertical inches."

lies.

Satan is very good at lies.

I am a generally happy person. I don't have any major issues with self-esteem, in fact, I like being short (tumbler perks!), but it is in the moments that I give into Satan's lies that life suddenly becomes hard. I know what you're thinking... "just don't give in." But that is easier said than done when your grades aren't up to par with how your dream college would prefer, you have been stuck at the same competition level in tumbling for four years while your team mates go on to do things you only dream of doing, you have never been asked on a date, your teacher is yelling at you because you were a few days late on an assignment, your bedroom looks like a tornado hit, The group of people sitting next to you are making fun of your religion, and the boy behind you said that being tall is a requirement for his future spouse and you only stand 4'10" tall.

I know so many girls who feel exactly the same way that I do. I also know so many girls who have it even worse than I do.

In retrospect, there is someone who is very good at speaking truth to counteract the lies.

His name is Christ.

He knows exactly what you need, exactly when you need it. He gives comfort in tribulation, strength in oppression, and peace in trial, but he can only provide these things when we choose to listen to him rather than Satan.

He did indeed feel every pain and heartache the world ever has, or ever will face while kneeling in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knows exactly what you are going through and he want's nothing more than to help you in your trials and tribulations. He knows of your struggles and weaknesses and He also knows of your strengths and your possibilities and He wants the best for you and He is always available to help and assist you.

To the daughters of the Most High, I cry that you will turn to Him and realize that "You are a Daughter of your Heavenly Father, who loves you."

You are a Princess who is heir to the Kingdom of God. While things might be hard right now, someday your pain will be invisible.





"Here's to anyone who has ever felt invisible." Listen to the truth, disregard the lies. You a peculiar treasure of great worth.




feel my sunlight



p.s. Shout out to any of you who read that entire thing! I would totally love to give you an ice cream sandwich for completing that task, but because I don't know where you currently are, and because I don't have any ice cream sandwiches, I guess you will have to live with pretending I showed up to your house with an ice cream sandwich to give to you. It seems like a good gesture. Pretend I did it.

p.s.s. I decided I am going to compete in the 2014 US Power Tumbling National Championships. This means I need to do some serious fundraising. Fundraisers coming soon. Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches are my favorite fundraiser, so who knows, maybe I will show up at your door with a box of ice cream sandwiches! I give more info when the time comes. :)

p.s.s.s. Thanks for taking the time to read my writing! This blog would be nothing without you. Without you it would just sit here collecting internet dust if that were a thing.

8 comments:

  1. I love you and you are amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I read the whole thing! Now...where's my icecream? :D
    I feel like this all the time. The clichéd idea that "God made a mistake on me" is one I feel a lot. But God doesn't make mistakes! He loves us and he made us just the exact way that would be perfect for us. I'm on the other side of the spectrum, I'm six feet tall, but let me tell you I know what it feels like to be overlooked and passed by for something as simple and superficial as height. As soon as guys see me and realize I'm a whole head taller than him, it's automatic "less-than friend" zone for me. :) if that's even a thing. But I was made tall for a reason, and if it is good enough for my Heavenly Father then it is good enough for me. Easier said than done.

    Thank you so much! I admire you a ton!

    ReplyDelete
  3. *accepts figurative ice cream sandwich* thank you :)

    Being short, I have that problem. Not quite as bad as you, but close (I'm approximately 5'2") :) And I know what you mean about it being so hard to not give in. "My sister is prettier than me, no one texts me cuz no one likes me, I'm not 'popular,' it's impossible to break my bad habits so why do I even try, my room *always* looks like a tornado just hit, I procrastinate *so much* can I even ask for forgiveness when I do it YET AGAIN?"

    I'm almost 18, and I've been on exactly two dates. Both times, I was asked at the last minute (I suspect because 1. he was lazy and 2. everyone else was busy), and the second time, both of the other couples in our group were going steady with each other. I've never been asked to a school dance; the one time I went was when I asked a guy to our February Sadie Hawkins dance.

    I feel very invisible. I'm not at the same school as most of my friends (I'm at our local community college for PSEO), and I feel forgotten.

    So basically, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this wonderful post. You are awesometastic.

    <3 Marie-Rose

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PS HUNTER HAYES IS THE GREATEST :D :D :D :D :D

      Delete
  4. Boy, do I want to have a long conversation about this. But the important thing is that you understand who matters most and who loves you the most. When we concentrate on the things that hurt us it is being prideful. Instead, we need to be humble and accepting of the things we can't change and be more grateful. It can be really hard, though. You always amaze me with all your talents and strength in the gospel. Karen

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You are amazing and beyond your years, I'm so glad I have you as my daughter.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really needed this post today. Thank you, Whitney! This is such an important message that is so easy to forget in today's society. Thank you for the wonderful reminder! Have you ever read the beautyredefined.net blog? It has really helped me. And I love that Hunter Hayes song.

    Hugs!
    Sarah

    P.S. I'm totally craving ice cream sandwiches now. ;)

    ReplyDelete

Leave me a comment! I'd love to hear from you!