for every girl who’s been the silent one, the one ignored, the one unnoticed –

for every girl who didn’t want to let herself dream, but she did anyway, and had her heart broken –

for every girl who’s been lonely, aching for best friends to know her inside and out –

for every girl who’s bravely put on a smile that’s been a mask, and who’s carelessly laughed when she’s dying on the inside –

for every girl who feels scared to death to talk to people or meet those she doesn’t know –

for every girl who watches quietly, because she doesn’t want to say the wrong thing and be made fun of –

for every girl who hears what they say & pretends like she doesn’t –

for every girl who’s scared she’s not good enough –

for every girl who tries to be strong, but is ripped apart with insecurity –

for every girl who just longs for someone to love her –

for every girl who’s tired of trying and just wants to be accepted –

for every girl who feels like she’s on the outside looking in on a merry-go-round party where everyone has their place but her –

You’re not alone.

I see you, and my heart breaks for you. I have been there. I know the fears that haunt like a bad dream, the tears that come unbidden, and the longings that surge in your heart that no one knows about. I know what it’s like to stand next to the one in the spotlight, in the shadows where no one ever notices you.

Please, please know that God does. And He doesn’t just “notice” you. He made you with intricate design. He has a purpose for you, and you are His beautiful child. When you are weeping, He weeps with you and holds your breaking heart in His hands.

He’s the Healer – the One whose wounds secure your peace … and when no one else understands how deep your pain goes – He does. He longs for you to run to Him and tell Him everything. He longs to bind your brokenness and turn ashes into beauty.

And I’m not spouting some glib proverb – I’m speaking from experience. Every line written above is about me at some point in my life. But. He has done the miraculous in me, the shyest and scaredest of them all. He has set the captive free – into the boundless realms of His perfect freedom. Certainly I still struggle with the fears and anxieties listed above, but way down deep within me is the assurance of who God has made me to be – and no one can take that away.

And dear friend, just know this – that as you trust Him to make you new, He transforms you from a girl with a broken heart into a woman whose quiet, beautiful confidence comes from knowing who she is in Christ and who lives out joyfully the life for which He has designed her.

Remember that insecurity is only the devil’s way of distracting you from being the person God made you to be.

So let’s lift up and encourage one another as sisters in Christ, pray for one another, and remind one another of God’s bountiful love and mercy toward us. He is delighted by the ones He has made.