I responded with an emphatic yes. To be real I still deal with all of the same things I did when I was in high school. I still have the same insecurities and fears. I still wonder a lot of the same things. Have a lot of the same dreams, except being a politician that one is gone.
A major difference though is how I deal with those things when they come up. When something happens and it opens up an insecurity. I know how to healthily close that door back up. I know the truth that puts that insecurity back in its place. I work hard to not let that insecurity run free in my mind because I know the spiral it will lead me down and the destination at the end of it is only dark, lonely, and empty. I don’t like going down that spiral because there is not life at the end of it, only death.
I have matured in how I cope, all credit to Jesus.
But oh boy do I still deal with all that old stuff. And how I have to completely surrender it to Him every time otherwise I negative self talk. I hate feeling like I did back then. Completely tossed to and fro by my emotions. And these emotions were affected by others all of the time. I can’t stand how it can affect how I see myself. How it affects the progress that has been made. How it truly makes me feel like I am 15 again. Helpless and desperate. So when moments happen that remind of that girl, I do not talk kindly to myself. I say things such as, “I thought we were past this,” or “seriously Erica again,” or “what is wrong with you that can’t get over this.” Etc. I don’t like speaking to myself that way because I know God is not. He is simply looking at me with those loving eyes of his and saying, “just give it here.”
But then again it brings me back to the person I was when I realized I needed s savior. When I realized I was indeed helpless and desperate. Maybe in a way I have forgotten that and this is God’s way of bringing me back to him again. Maybe these thoughts and open doors on my mind are a way for me to come face to face with that girl I used to be. Because that girl NEEDED Jesus. I KNOW I need Jesus. But often throughout my day I do not live as though I need him. When my emotions get the best of me and I find myself 15 again, I desperately need Jesus to help get me through. I rely on him. I can’t do it on my own. Only he can get me through.
So even though I hate when things bring me back to THAT girl. The girl in a lot of ways I do not like. The girl that needed approval from others and found her value in any guy who gave her attention. I need to be thankful for those same moments. No, I do not want to go back to being THAT girl. But that girl was desperate for Jesus. She was helpless and lost. She knew she needed Jesus. Those moments remind me of the desperation. And they bring me to need Jesus desperately.
I can’t sleep. That is why I am writing this right now. I have to get it out. This is how I process. And I know I’m not alone. And I desire for others to also know they are not alone in these thoughts.
Just heard this song the following morning.
This is the desperation I was speaking of. God is good. Regardless of what I am going through.