Dear younger me

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13, 14

In anticipation of the NCAA Cross Country Championships on November 19, professional runner and three-time NCAA champion Kara Goucher wrote a letter to her much younger 22-year-old self that included input this next generation of runners would most certainly benefit from. The advice was written to herself on the eve of the 2000 NCAA Cross Country Championships that she was set to run in and included this, "As the future you, I want to tell you to slow down. Try to really take it all in. Trust your training, trust your teammates, and most importantly trust yourself. You are ready for a great race. You are ready to run hard but more importantly, to have fun executing that race. Enjoy every last second."

There's no doubt that time can help us see things in a different way right? And while we can't change the past by the things we have learned, there is something we all can do. We can share our knowledge to help the next generation as Kara did. And the advice I now share and the thing I wish I could have told my younger me? No matter how the world defines you, you are worthy. You are worthy because God personally made you. As a matter of fact, He chose to make you! And He created you to do wonderful things regardless of what anyone else says or thinks. Your worth is in who you are to Him and not the image you see in the mirror and He thinks you're pretty amazing.

And you know what? God made each and every one of us in the same special way. Which means, no matter how you see yourself today, God, the Creator, sees you as a wonderful one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Isn't it time you started seeing yourself that way too?

Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word that tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Help us to see ourselves as you see us rather than how the world defines what is beautiful. We praise you for making us so wonderfully and for sealing us as your workmanship. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!!!
www.team413.org

Dear younger me - Mercy Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l70C3ePyIQ

http://running.competitor.com/2016/11/news/kara-gouchers-amazing-advice-younger-self_159380