This last week has been a whirlwind of emotions (surprise, right!?), activities, laughter, and little time to think and process.
Last weekend my 12 year old sister was texting me about what was going on in her life. It was like listening to 12 year old Lisa. She was describing things that I went through when I was her age. It was actually heart breaking. I got angry and sad. History was replaying itself. One of the men that we trusted the most would criticize us to our faces.
"You're fat. You're stupid. You're not good enough. You're not going to go anywhere in life."
Basically:
"You're not loved."
At the time when it is most crucial to affirm a girl, to make it known that she is loved, someone metaphorically slaps her across the face and knocks her off her feet. I get it. I've been there. The best thing I've figured to do for my sister is remind her of how special she is, give her tips on how to avoid that man, and how to get far away from him as soon as she can. I only pray that she doesn't make the same mistakes I did, running to boys to look for the affirmation I never got from him. No teenage boy can fill the gap of an emotionally absent father, no matter how hard that boy may try.
The only one who can fill that hole is Abba Father. The only Father who would send His son to show us everlasting love in spite of our daily failures and neglect of Him. Abba craves intimacy with us and we can achieve that through the Holy Spirit who resides in us when we cry out for forgiveness and give our lives over to Him. Abba who created us and knew everything about us before our parents were even married. He knows how many hairs are on my head (and how many are grey!). He knows what I'm going to eat tomorrow and who I will encounter and what reactions I will have. He knew everything I said yesterday before I did. He has orchestrated everything in my life to bring me to where I am today. That teenage part of my life where I had emotional gaps and I did really irrational things to look for love was an important part of my life that eventually taught me that the only love that could satisfy is the love that comes from the Savior of the universe. No boy/man/human can ever fill the emptiness inside.
It's unfortunate that things happened to me when I was younger. And it's incredibly heartbreaking that it's repeating itself in my sister's life. I can only pray, and pray hard, that she doesn't go searching for love any place else except in the arms of the King of Kings.
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