Show Up For Your Life

My name is Chrystal Hurst, and I've written Show Up for Your Life so that young ladies can know what the girl they'll be tomorrow needs to know today. What would I tell my teenage self?

If I could talk to teenage Jessica, there are a few things I would tell her.

Dear 14-year-old Christy, there are a lot of things I'd like to tell you.

What I'd tell my 13-year-old self: choose your friends wisely.

So if I could go back and tell my 16-year-old self something, I would say, girl, stretch as much as you can.

Here is what I would tell my 16-year-old self.

If I could go If I could go back in time and speak to my, I would say between 14 and 16-year-old self, I would tell myself, "Listen to your mother." You know, when I think about what I would tell my 16-year-old self, I would tell that girl that she could trust her God.

I would tell that girl that she needs to get into the Word of God and find out what the promises of God are for her life and what God says that she can do and who God says that she is.

I would tell her to Slow down, be content, and don't chase men.

What would I tell my 14-year-old self? Look, boys are great, but having one in your life is not the end-all be-all. Go back to that 13-year-old self and worry more about your friends.

You don't know everything, and it's perfectly fine that you don't. Your mother is there as a resource rather than a restriction in your life. It may seem like she's trying to ruin ruin your life or not let you have, um, fun, but she's gone before you. She, she's made mistakes that you haven't made yet, and she doesn't want you to make, so she's trying to help you.

God has amazing plans for you, but you are going to walk through some valleys that make it look like God has potentially forgotten about you. When God's promises seem doubtful, his lack of intervention hurtful, and his timing questionable, don't seek to get over the hard places that you're going through. You've got to walk through them and walk through them with God.

Every time you get an opportunity to push beyond what you think you are capable and you feel the wind of God's Spirit behind you, do it. Stretch and keep on stretching. Go outside of your comfort zone and keep going outside of your comfort zone. That's how you build a track record with God.

I think the most important thing I would tell you is that you are loved. And I know that sounds so basic, and I know you're probably rolling your eyes right now, but it's something that drives everything you do every day. You are looking for love in all the wrong places, and you don't know that you already are loved.

Here's the good news. No matter how old you are, it's never too late for you to look and find a girl who's in her teenage years and to tell her what you want her to know right now. And what is that? No matter what specific people piece of information or advice you'd give, here's the bottom line. You want that girl—your daughter, your niece, your cousin, your granddaughter, your mentee, your little friend—you want her to show up for her life today.