Gratitude for the things we were told

Who told you that you were__________?

When I was a child, I don't remember being told "I love you".  I do remember being told that I was the fattest.  That I was loud.  That I was just like my father.  I remember more of the negatives, because that seems to be what I was called the most often, or maybe, those things are just the easiest to remember.  

Remember the old saying, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me".  I am here to tell you that is one of the most untrue statements ever spoken.  I don't remember all the times I was hit or beat up, but I remember the names I was called.  I became self-conscious because those names taught me that I could never be good enough.

The kids at school also called me names.  They called me so many that I never felt like I was liked.  I was made fun of and bullied.  I was ignored and got in fights that I didn't want to be in.  I had to wear dresses to school everyday because girls weren't allowed to wear pants and we weren't allowed to wear shorts under our dresses.  I hated dresses.  Looking like a girl was not something I ever did well.  

I have been told for much of my adult life that I have "chicken legs".  Hence, I never wear shorts and rarely even wear capris.  Even in the heat of summer I wear jeans or long dresses.  

As a mom, I did not want my children to go through anything like I did.  They did anyway.  Not by my, but by the other children. They have been bullied.  They have been ridiculed.  They have been unwelcome and they have been called names.  

I have one daughter with Tourettes and it has been hardest for her.  One thing that I have come to understand is that people don't think before they speak.  They will blurt out anything.  They will say anything.  They don't even realize how much it hurts.  

My point for writing this is that God has never called you those names.  He doesn't bully.  He doesn't make fun of you when you aren't listening.  He loves you even if you turn away.  He loves you even when no one else seems to.  He empathizes with you.  He has compassion for you.  He wants you to live with Him again.

My point is that we need to work on telling ourselves the things that He would want us to hear.  "You are beautiful".  "You are loved".  "You are needed".  "You have skills and talents".  "You are amazing".  "You are enough".   We should be casting out the words that we would not even tell our own worst enemies and replacing them with things that we would tell anyone.  The truth is not always the way we see it.  Sometimes we think we are the things we have heard.