This is part of an e-mail from our Velocity Director, Leah Carr:
Just this past weekend, we had our Velocity Lock-In. For those of you who do not know how we do our Lock-Ins- while we do have a good chunk of free time for our students with video games, board games, movies, and activities in the gym, we also use the beginning of the evening for sessions. This year, we were blessed to have Valerie Figgins, the Team Leader at Fort, lead our girls session. During the session, she gave the girls an opportunity to write down what they see and feel when they look in the mirror and turn in those sheets anonymously. I wanted to share some of the things from these sheets, as they are heartbreaking. And although it is sad and it reminds me of the quotes we read EVERY year on the TA Retreat- it reminds me of our need for a Velocity Retreat and it reminds me of the importance of what we are doing just among our own students! For me personally, God used Teen Advisors to give me victory in my own long and difficult battle with my self-worth. I can identify with so many of these girls’ statements and I wish that Velocity was in middle school when I began to combat all my self-worth issues. So as you read these statements, would you pray over each of these girls who wrote them? And would you pray for the retreat that's coming up?
- “Like I’m a failure”
- “I see a girl who compares herself to anyone and everyone.”
- “I see all the things people teased me about. I see an insecure girl who is insecure beyond belief.”
- “That I’m not good enough. Sometimes I feel so ugly that I start to cry…I feel that the reason no one likes me is because of this; for my ugly features.”
- “Many people make fun of me and it hurts, but I try to make it look like I don’t care. When people make fun of me I try to hold it in but I sometimes can’t.”
- “When I look in the mirror I see a girl who doesn’t feel comfortable with herself and her life.”
- “I feel as if my friends will turn their backs on me right when I open up to them and tell them my true feelings.”
- “All I want to do is be myself, but I don’t know who that is!”
- “That I will never live up to my parents expectations”
- “I hide who I really am in front of friends.”
- “Someone who is looking for a way to let her true self come out.”
- “At times I feel ugly and depressed and like I’m nothing and no one cares”
- “A lot of the time I look in the mirror and see a beautiful, happy person, but other days I can’t stand to look at myself. It’s not the looks mainly, but who I am inside that disgusts me.”
- “Pretty, but not pretty enough.”
- “Like I don’t belong. I feel ugly and sad and just wish I could be skinnier or someone else. I am teased a lot and many people don’t like me. I try to fit in and be happy, but I always end up crying in the night.”
- “I would like help but I am too scared to get it.”
- “I feel like I don’t matter, and I wish I had someone to talk to. I see someone who just can’t seem to do anything right. I don’t fit in anywhere and I need a good friend that will accept me for who I am.”
- “Am I beautiful? Well, I don’t know yet.”
- “When I look in the mirror I feel ugly. I feel like I am just a girl that nobody cares about.”
- “I see a person I have created and not the person I was meant to be. I change myself and try to look like the other girls because that’s the ‘right’ way to dress.”
- “I feel sad, depressed, and I need help.”
- “I see a mean and stupid person. I see a loner.”
- “I’m not sure of who I am.”
- “I feel ugly. I see a person who is struggling with so much, but to the outside world I’m perfectly fine. Because when I walked into middle school they taught me how to fake a smile.”
- “I see all the things people teased me about.”
- “I sometimes see a beautiful girl who is confident and ready to face the day…Other days, I see an ugly girl with no good qualities and no reason to even go out. I feel bad about myself like I shouldn’t try to look because there’s no hope for me.”
I wonder what YOU see and feel when you look in the mirror....what does God see when He looks at you in the mirror? may what we see and feel line up more and more with His Truth.
