You are valuable.

Hey friends!

I hope this greets you well and loved. 

I have been feeling a pressing in my heart lately to send some love to young women. It's a broad group, and it may even include you. 

In my line of work (social services working with at-risk youth), I come across far too many young women who don't know that they have value. They have mostly identified worth with outer appearances, and spend a great deal of time worrying about how they are perceived and interpreted by others. While many people spend their whole lives concerned about what others think of them, to varying degrees, there is an abundance of young girls who are losing themselves in the quest to be what others want. 

They have lost their sense of self, and have virtually no idea that they are valuable. 

photo cred EinnaEsor

There are many things that could be said about this topic, but the fact of the matter is, it's up to us to start building up and encouraging the young women of the world. They need to know they have worth and value that far exceeds what they look like, the way that they talk, or even what their test scores are. 

The aftermath of this lack of esteem, this lack of worth, can take on so many forms: depression and anxiety, self-mutilation, drug and alcohol abuse,  isolation, even falling into sex trafficking. While these may sound extreme to some of you, it's nearly the entire population of young women that I work with every single day. It's the girl serving your dinner, it's the girl pushing a stroller, it's the girl on the corner... Have you seen her? 

Take some time this week to purposefully send some love and care to young women who do not know their own incredible worth. 

And if you're faced with an opportunity to encourage a young girl, or a young woman, talk not of her appearance, but of her character and her heart. 

(Really fantastic article here challenging how we think about talking to young girls.)

hugs and loves to you and yours this week

sarah d.