To The Girl Who Feels She Is Too Much And Somehow Not Enough:

You are not, nor have ever been, too full of this "much"ness. Your volume you project into the world is exactly the right amount. Your laugh is not too loud. It celebrates life, and encourages those around you to rejoice in each day. You do not talk too much, overshare too much, or make people feel obligated to spend time with you. In fact, your enthralling stories give life to a day full of drudgery. When you share about yourself, you are inviting others to be comfortable sharing pieces of themselves with others. Your ability to spread silliness easily does not make you "the comedic sidekick" but reminds others that life is to be enjoyed, not endured.

When you feel as though you do not fit the mold of a gentle, quiet, unassuming woman and feel less- remember how beautiful the diversity of the earth is. How boring the earth would be if we were all the same. There are women of strength that have come before you and ones that will follow, it is awesome if you are one of them. You should not feel shame when you cry in public. Never feel like you have to apologize for feeling immensely. It is a rare and precious treasure to feel as passionately as you do, and it is a gift that should be celebrated, not buried and stifled. The world tells us to be jaded. To feel deeply in a world that says to stays numb is nothing less than miraculous. Your body is a temple that stretches across the sprawling center of a city. Temples are meant to be lavish and large. The beauty of a city on a hill is that everyone knows its name.

"Flowers are pretty but so are christmas lights and they look nothing alike. Though you do not look beautiful in the same manner as others, your beauty is reflected through an endless iridescent kaleidoscope that shoots out your drive to improve the world like sunbeams upon all who gaze upon you"

There are many voices that try to silence and control you. They tell you to over and over again through word and deed to "Stop being so loud" and to "keep quiet, or no one, let alone a man, is going to Love you". This has been told to you since you were young, each new message of being too much like a rusted dagger to the back. Each dagger reminds you that no one will Love you if they saw who you really are.

These daggers have told you in a collective noise that your opinions don't matter, and that no one wanted to hear them anyway. They say your laugh is an annoying inconvenience and that your overflowing tears are the simple result of "another too emotional woman". You are being silenced. Make no mistake, this is an intentional act. The devil is trying to silence you-- because they are terrified. And why in the world shouldn't they be? For wasn't it a woman that brought about the downfall of man, and with a roar revival can bring life giving word to the ends of the earth. You are a force to be reckoned with. Never underestimate the beauty in the power of your voice. You can be gentle and you are strong. You are a electrifying paradox of a soul. You provide so much to say, a lot to give, a lot to be in this world. The world needs a lot- it's a good thing you're here to give it.

You are enough. You do not need to accomplish anything more than the extent of what you Love. You are Loved with an abundant, embarrassingly unconditional Love, and such Love is "As You Are" Love, not "because of what you've done" love. The beauty of Grace is that it is given freely. Though our oppressive, enslaving culture bellows at us to kill ourselves through our work in order to "make something of ourselves" it is all rotting lies that come from the depths of hell. Our worth is not something that can be earned. You don't have to be "pretty/smart/driven/accomplished like her", you can and are meant to only be like you. You do not need to rely on the things you can "bring to the table" when approaching your relationships, your life. You, yes you, with your heart of a lion and spirit of kindness are all you should be. Who could fathom that there is another out there who needs to be filled in the ways that only you can provide?

"You do not need to accomplish anything more than to do the extent of what you Love"

Comparison is the thief of joy. Dear Girl, you are stealing your ability to choose joy every time you look into the mirror and wish you more resembled another. When will you realize your toughness, your stubbornness, your voice, your inability to wear dresses and heels, your love of the things you choose makes you a work of art?

This paradox of being simultaneously "too much" in the ways we shouldn't be and "not enough" of what we should is toxic. It is the exact way to disable an unstoppable force- convince it that it can produce nothing noteworthy at all. You are Loving, Kind, considerate, strong, Powerful, Gentle, Passionate, thoughtful, wise, silly, and overwhelmingly full of grace. You are so worthy of Love.

You are not "too much".

You are enough.

You are redeemed.

"How cool is it that the same God who created mountains and galaxies and oceans looked at you and thought the world needed one of you, too"