If I could go back in time….

I would tell my little self to get off my butt; put down the bag of chips, cup of soda, and Nintendo controller; and go outside and play!!!

Every time I look at a picture of myself when I was small (like at 6 or 7 years old) I get so frustrated because you could see that if I would have had proper instruction on diet and exercise I would have been a thin to average size girl all growing up and I wouldn’t have the body and struggles I have now. It’s so sad. Back then I had normal size everything, including legs and arms.

Now, after much work, I am truly not a FAT girl, but I definitely still overweight and have very thick legs and, if not for liposuction, I would have had very large arms right now. Like I said, it’s frustrating. I could have avoided all these “issues” with my body if my parents would have made sure I ate right, didn’t overeat, and got adequate exercise—if they would have just kept me busy! I’m so not making that mistake with my kids…

I would tell my little self to stop being depressed and feeling sorry for myself AND to get over myself--it's not about what I want, but what God wants. Then I would give myself a much-needed hug and say, “Everything is going to turn out okay. Trust in the Lord! He made you and you are pretty (even if that wasn’t all that true back then… lol), smart, and important.”

I think I was born serious, but nevertheless, I think I still could have been a somewhat happy kid. I always felt ignored, not good enough, like I was just some kind of drama queen, like no one cared about me, and that I had something to worry and fear every minute of the day. All I needed was for someone to care and to tell me things were okay, that I was a valuable person, etc. That was all I needed. If I could go back I would tell myself that there is nothing to WORRY about or FEAR. Everything ends up turning out okay because God is in control and He cares…