Dear 11 year old me,

          This is you. Like me. I am you, eight years later. Bet you never thought you'd get a letter from me did you? Wait, yes you did.
          You've been through a lot the past eight years. You've gained and you've lost. You've laughed, you've cried, and you've laughed til you cried. People have came in your life and left it, sometimes bitterly. You've felt alone. Many times. You've sat in your room until three in the morning crying your eyes out, wondering why those girls are so mean. You've felt out of place. You've been picked on. You've suffered. Plain and simple.
         Out of all of the suffering, you've attempted to find yourself, like in the movies. You thought that you'd go on this crazy adventure and your life will forever be changed and everything will fall into place.
         I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but that didn't happen. It probably never will. Instead, you found yourself in little pieces, mini-adventures, if you will. You found your physical strength in softball. You found your flexibility in clogging, and dance team. You found your voice in theatre. You found your beauty in boys.
         That last one is bad, very bad. You searched all in the wrong places for acceptance, love. You've cried in your momma's lap for hours and hours on end wondering what is wrong with you. And your momma, hug her more and bless her heart, she's tried and tried to tell you that you are good enough, but you're too hard headed/hearted to listen to her.
          Well Abbey, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are BEAUTIFUL. "Oh beautiful you are my darling! THERE IS NO FLAW IN YOU." (SOS 4:7) Yes, you are a little quirky. Not every normal eleven year old likes spending as much of their time in church. Not every normal eleven year old can read the whole twilight series in a month. Not every normal eleven year old has your heart, or your soul. Not every normal eleven year old has their college plan mapped out in detail. (Which, I'm sorry, you never got to play for Pat Summitt. We had a hard time with that one, but you'll love Maryville College.) But that makes you, you. me. Us.
          You slowly begin to find yourself. However, you didn't find yourself in sports. or boys. or your books or friends or even your parents. You found yourself through Jesus. Yes, you've heard people say this throughout your life. But it's true. You found love. You found Joy. You found acceptance.
And me, that is truly the best thing you could ever find. Life's hard, but you lived.