Dear Girl,

At two years old you know exactly what you want. What you like. What you don’t like.

And you tell us exactly how you feel when you don’t get your way.

You know what you want to wear and what you want to eat and what you want to do…

You say “NO!!!” without any hesitation.

Some would call that strong-willed.

I just call it strong. And independent.

And fierce.

Dear Girl,

At two years old you walk through life without any cares about what other people think of you.

Or about how you look.

You don’t care much about ‘the rules’ or developmental milestones.

You are charting your own course.

You laugh loudly and play hard and jump off furniture that is WAY too high and sing and rock your babies and torment the dog and squirt toothpaste all over the sink and leave a tornado in your wake.

There is not one single thing you think you CAN’T do.

Some would call that defiant.

I just call it confident. And courageous.

And fierce.

Dear girl,

I watch you now and wonder if I was like you as a two-year-old?

Do we all start out that way? Do we start out knowing exactly who we are?? Completely unashamed to be ourselves?? Indifferent to the way other people may be doing it around us??

Do we say “NO!!” without any hesitation…because No means No!

Before the World happens, do we all start out strong and independent and confident and courageous???

And fierce?

Dear Girl,

There may come a day you are confronted with the realization you are ‘different’ and perhaps this life is not as it seems.

You may suddenly become aware of what the World says…

About how to be beautiful. About how to be a woman. About relationships. About Your Place. About Your Behavior. About Your Opinions. About Your Worth.

You may come across a few people who don’t like your emphatic “NO!!”

You may walk into a group of peers one day or notice someone’s reproachful stare or see something on TV and find yourself looking down at your clothes or your hair or your body or your interests or your opinions and wonder…

Is this okay? Am I doing it right?

Am I enough?

Dear Girl,

Please don’t ever let those thoughts sink into your soul. Don’t let those judgmental, doubting voices take up any space in your heart.

Ignore the ones who tell you…You are ugly, unlovable, stupid, failing, fat, silly, weird, small, unworthy.

Ignore the whispers that say…You are not enough.

They are lying to you.

Do you hear me??

It is a lie!!!

Give them your very fiercest “NO!!!”

Dear Girl,

Did you know you were made on purpose?

With a purpose?

Did you know you were created for His purpose?

Before you were born, He knew YOU…your interests and talents and strengths.

He knew you would be strong, independent, confident, and courageous.

Fierce, even.

He created you Just This Way for a reason.

Then He chose hazel-blue eyes and wavy, sandy brown hair and dimpled cheeks and the world’s most adorable laugh to match that gigantic God-given personality of yours.

Be YOU sweetheart…not the version the World might tell you to be.

Be YOU.

Because YOU, my Dear Girl will always be beautiful.

And smart. And loved. And worthy.

YOU, my Dear Girl are so much more than enough.