A Letter to Teenage Girls

I am usually not one to blog about my opinions. It's not that I think it's not good to blog about opinions. I think it is mostly because I am insecure. I care wayyy too much what others think about me. And putting my thoughts and opinions about something on the internet makes me very vulnerable. But this topic has continued to be pressing me and I feel like I just need to get my thoughts out there. My hope and prayer is that this will encourage and challenge young girls. I am not claiming to be an expert in relationships or love, but I remember what it's like to be a Christian teenage girl in this generation {I have only not been a teenager for 5 years} and I hope I can offer some advice. So here goes ...

Dear teenage girl,

The first thing I want you to know is that you are created by a loving maker and you are beautiful. The Bible says that you were wonderfully made. The Message translation puts Psalm 139 like this:

"You know me inside and out you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day."

I love that! Did you know that those words are REAL and TRUE? God knew YOU before you were born. He wanted you! He planned you. And God doesn't make mistakes. So stop caring what other people say. I know it's easier said than done, trust me, I cared. I cared a lot. But looking back, I know that it doesn't matter. Is it okay to buy cute clothes, wear makeup and do your hair? Of course. Should you let it control you? Should you look in the mirror and think you're ugly in no makeup and sweat pants? No. Don't let the world tell you what to look like. Look like you want to look like. If you don't like makeup- don't wear it. If you don't like dresses- don't wear them. If you love high heels and big necklaces- wear them. Be you. God made you perfectly. You are perfect. Please believe it. Don't let boys tell you're not. If a boy ever tells you he doesn't like the way you look, if you like the way you look, then tell that boy goodbye and don't think about it. You are perfect. Period.

With that said, be modest. Good guys like it. I promise you. When I was 16ish, I liked it when guys looked at me. I liked attention. Well, I don't look back on those times and think "man, that was nice." I think back and I am embarrassed. I wish I cared more about what boys thought of my insides back then. Care about what guys think of your insides. You'll be happier. I can assure you of that.

Another thing I want you to realize, sweet girl, is that love doesn't happen like it happens in the movies or love songs. Now, don't get me wrong, I listen to Taylor Swift. A lot. And I have watched my fair share of chick flicks. But I wish I didn't listen to it as much as I did when I was in high school. Or I wish that I knew that it wasn't real. I am blessed to be married to the love of my life and my best friend. I am crazy in love with him and I think our love story is romantic and special. But sometimes, I think it's not "good enough". Does my standard of not good enough come from The Bible? Sadly, no. When I am having my insecure moments of thinking mine and Erik's love story isn't passionate or fairy tale like, I know I am comparing our relationship to the relationships in movies or love songs. I am sorry to break it to you, but realistically speaking, we don't passionately kiss in the rain. We don't slam doors when we are arguing and then passionately make up. We don't always cuddle or hold hands every second of the day. Erik doesn't stand outside my window and sing to me. We don't go on canoe rides through a lagoon. Don't get me wrong, those things aren't necessarily bad. And maybe in some relationships, things like that do happen. But not in mine. I don't think it's realistic to think that all relationships should be like that. Yes, wait for a guy who treats you special and spoils you. Wait for a guy who loves you for you. But if you are waiting for the kind of love that Taylor Swift sings about or that Nicholas Sparks writes about, I think you might either be waiting for awhile, or if you do find someone, you will end up never feeling satisfied. Do your future husband a favor and don't watch that stuff so much. Don't read romance novels for a little while. Read God's word. Make a list of standards based on God's word, not what the world says.

Girls, I am speaking to you from experience here. I know what it's like. It's still tempting for me to look in the mirror and not be happy with what I look like. It's still tempting for me to feel disappointed with Erik when he doesn't love me like the guy in the current chick flick I just watched loved the main character. I am not sure, but I believe that if I knew a little bit more about how damaging trusting in what the world tells me I am supposed to look like and act, and how my relationship with my boyfriend/fiance/husband is supposed to be like, I could have saved myself some heartache and some disappointments.

I pray this letter doesn't discourage you or make you feel guilty. I hope it reminds you how special you are. I hope it reminds that God has a wonderful plan for your life. I hope it reassures you that not all relationships are like movies. I hope it gives you hope.

Thanks for taking the time to read this letter dear one.  You are so loved.

Love, Amanda

Busyness and God's Grace

Again, here I am not believing how fast time is going by. I seriously can't believe September is almost coming to a close. I guess it's true that time flies when you're having fun ... or when you're extremely busy ;). But really, this last month has been fun, wonderful, and busy.

Because Erik and I both had somewhat of big changes {Erik mostly} this year, we both feel busier. I adore teaching Grade 1, but it is a change to my schedule and routine a little bit, so that has taken some getting used to. I am excited that my kiddos can actually do writing assignments, take spelling tests, and do homework, but it makes for more grading! :) Erik has been very busy getting the sports program underway and he is working hard on the PE curriculum as well as head coaching the basketball team. I am a proud wife for sure - he is definitely the best Sports Coordinator I know! With teaching, planning, grading, meetings, practices, tournaments, and emails to keep up with, sometimes I feel like I never see my husband. A few weeks ago, all the busyness hit me and I had a thought that this is how the whole year was going to be. Never seeing each other. Never spending any quality time {yes, I am dramatic and think NEVER when it's actually not never}. Thankfully, I have a WONDERFUL husband who knows how to love me and make me feel better. He has truly done an amazing job at balancing work and home. It is hard, and we are still working on it, but I am so blessed by a husband who cares for my needs and does his best to be the best husband he can be - and the best teacher/coach/co-worker he can be.

Besides having a husband who does such a good job of making me feel secure and loved during this busy time, I also have a wonderful Creator Father who has blessed us with many unexpected blessings this year. Since we started consistently going to our church {IES South} we have really wanted to join a life group. The opportunity presented itself again this year, and we felt led to join one. We have only met twice but man, have we been blessed by it so far. We get to go meet in a real house, enjoy fellowship with 6 other believers that work with us at school, and about 15 other believers of all different ages, from all different types of places. It is a refreshing and much needed night out during the week. At first, I was dreading adding "one more thing" to our list of things to do, but I can already see how the Lord is going to bless us and grow us during this sweet time of fellowship with our church family.

Each year we are also blessed by old friendships and new. I was so excited to come back this year to dear friends that we have worked with for 1-2 years now, and to meet new ones. I have said this before, but God has used my girlfriends these past 2 years to bless and encourage me in ways that I wasn't expecting. I am already being blessed by the sweet friends in my life this year and I am so thankful for them and how they also help me cope with the busyness. Not only do we enjoy investing in and spending time with our friends, we have already enjoyed spending time with our students. I am loving my Grade 1's and each day I fall more in love with them. I have also been able to spend some time with some Senior School girls which is really fun for me! :)

God is really oh so God to us. Even with the busyness of this year, I feel God's presence and I know he is working in our individual lives and in our marriage. A couple specific prayer requests:

~ Erik is overloaded with planning and organizing. He has a lot on his plate and sometimes feels like he doesn't have time to get it all done. He never complains about this (not even to me hardly) but I know he sometimes has a hard time not feeling stressed out. Please pray that he would feel the Lord's peace and presence as he continues to work hard at developing and organizing the sports and PE program. Pray for wisdom as he desires to balance working with all his heart, but making sure he leaves time for God, me, and relaxing :)
~ Pray for me as I continue to get in the swing of things with Grade 1. I am feeling great about how it is going so far, but please pray for me as I am learning new curriculum and trying to figure out the best way to help 6 year old's learn what they need to!
~ Pray for us as we are studying The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren with our life group. Please pray with us that we would be open to the Lord's plan for our life - especially at this time when we are praying about what he has next for us.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and love. We constantly feel them!

And of course ... I would never blog without pictures of some sort ;) So, here are a couple pics of my sweet kiddos!

 

In Science we have been learning about plants. We talked about their environment and then we took a little "field trip" to our school pool and observed the plants in their environment.

 Doing mosaic art and just being plain adorable :)

Well that's about all from me, folks. OH .. one more thing ... only 19 days left until Erik and I are on a plane to this place ...

 

Praise the Lord for Tokyo, Mickey Mouse , and a vacay with just my best friend and me! 

Well bye for now my friends <3