My Own Skin...

I was never really good at history. All those names and dates never really seemed to interest me. But there was one test that I will always remember. I was sure that I had failed it.  I remember staring down at the blank test trying to process what had just happened to me.  I don’t even remember writing my name down!  I hurried through the test and honestly, the whole thing was a blur. All I wanted to do was to get the heck out of that class, out of that school! I knew that as soon as I finished I could leave. I turned in my test and walked out the class and down the hall. I left the building and walked across the street. My head was racing, my heart pounding and my steps were shaky. My mother worked just a few blocks down the street.  I hurried along as tears streamed down my face.  When I got there, I told her all about it. I was the victim of a brutal verbal beating by a high school teacher. The very ones that were supposed to be building us up, educating us, had broken my spirit and caused severe damage to my fragile heart.

Though I can recall the full memory, I have come a long way since those days. The fragile and broken girl that once was is no longer. I have been given a new identity in Christ. It is the one that says, I am valuable, I am worthy, and I am loved.  Growing up, it took a long time for me to be comfortable in my own skin. I was skinny, shy (up until 7th grade) and had endured some heavy lessons early in life. In addition to that, I did not know who I was because I did not know whose I was.

The journey seemed long and the road hard. But I made it! Today I am loving the life that I was created to live. I am also passionate about helping women discover the same. Too many of our young ones are looking to be someone that they are not. And it is not hard to blame them! I mean take a look at the garbage that society bombards us with through television, movies, radio and social media. So many artificial copy-cats out there! Each of us is like a fine piece of art. Why would you want a fake or a duplicate when you can have the original masterpiece? You, dear one, are an original, one in a lifetime design. There is no one like you; not now, not ever. You are special. You are valuable. You are loved.  I hope that you can begin to embrace that today, even if it seems like a stretch. As for me, I don’t want to be like anyone else. I am finally happy being me.

Andrea Vega is a wife and mom. Born and raised in Texas, she now lives in beautiful Colorado and loves the  mountain view but misses a good 'ol Texas thunderstorm! Her husband describes her as "free-spirited" (she thinks he’s just being nice). She’s just a girl trying to make a difference in the world, doing her part to be the hands and feet of Jesus, not perfect but forgiven.