"I Love the Person You Are"

This was how a lunch conversation ended with a dear family friend, essentially my second-mom, yesterday.  We were in the parking lot, she hugged me, looked me in the eyes, smiled, and said, "I love the person you are."  Those simple words are still resonating with me today.  This remarkable lady has seen me at my best, attending my play performances or school awards assemblies, and my worst, like when my 3 year old stubborn self purposefully peed my own pants in front of her because she wouldn't let me use the bathroom during nap time.  Yup.she.knows.me.

And despite it all, she loves the person I am.  During our lunch conversation, we openly shared our insecurities, our struggles, our search for purpose.  At one moment, I stopped mid-sentence and looked at her. "Women don't talk about this. We don't share that we all struggle with loving ourselves."  She grabbed my hand and said, "Well, we should."

Why is it so hard for women to open up and share that we don't always like what we see in the mirror?  Why is it so hard for us to love ourselves the way God loves us? It's so much easier to see other people for the greatness they have to offer the world, but significantly more difficult to see ourselves in the same light.  Why? 

I don't have the answer, and arguably, no one else does either, but this simple conversation reminded me how good it feels to say, "I am feeling insecure today." Chances are, they are too. It's why support groups are so prevalent.  There's a sense of camaraderie knowing we aren't alone in our struggles. 

So my goal as a youth group leader and English teacher, is to tell the middle school girls, "I love the person you are," in hopes that maybe this cycle of self-doubt and self-loathing may finally be put to rest.