Ignore the Haters

This week I came across two things on social media that really struck me. The first being a post a teen girl shared. I don't know this girl (and I don't know her name). As Twitter goes, it was just something I happened to see while scrolling. She shared images of a private message she received from an adult giving her a hard time because she wanted to be a writer, and she wants to be published now.

The gentleman questioned why she wanted to write in the first place, then proceeded to tell her that she shouldn't try to be published because teenagers shouldn't be published authors. She should wait until she was an adult.

And the Twitter-verse exploded.

I was compelled to comment, but so many people did that I chose not to. Instead, I read through a large number of responses. Several complimented her on how gracefully she handled the situation at her age. Many encouraged her to follow her dreams. I saw several that stated my first thought, that the man seemed simply bitter or jealous, perhaps someone whose own dreams never came to fruition.

The girl said she was not angry, maybe even felt sorry for the gentleman.

Last week we watched a rerun of Last Man Standing. Vanessa tries to get her daughter, Mandy, to see that she shouldn't give up on her dream of fashion design. Mike reiterates this by saying she shouldn't quit when things get hard. It was really moving the way Vanessa pleaded with Mike to help her convince Mandy not to give up. It took Vanessa years to discover her own dream. Mandy had known all along. She hated to see her toss it aside simply because of rejections from professional designers.

Then there was this Facebook quote from Steven Furtick:

As soon as God tells you what He wants you to do, the enemy will start telling you why you are unqualified. Learn to identify the lies of the enemy. Don't let satan plant insecurity where God is growing your destiny.

If you have found the thing that feels like your thing, don't give up when it gets tough. There will be days when you question if it's right, even when you know in your heart it is.

There will be haters who will question why you want to do this thing. They won't understand your focus, your dream, or your hustle. Don't listen to them.

There will be days when the devil drops questions into your mind. When he tells you that you don't have what it takes. That you shouldn't bother.

I'll say it again.

Do. Not. Listen.

The only voice that matters is God's.

Period.

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Jam I've Just Discovered:

Build us Back by the Newsboys

It's all good. Just listen to it! <3

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Library Shelfie Day:

Wednesday the twenty-third was library shelfie day. People were encouraged to share selfies of themselves in front of library shelves. A good enough reason for me to head into work early and take this.

It earned me 25 Instagram likes. I think that's a new record for me. I'm pictured with my fave childhood book, Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O'Dell. I remember owning a paperback version of it as a kid. Scott helped spark my love for historical fiction.

(Thanks, Mom!)

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Reading:

Rosemarked by Livia Blackburne

I'm 1/3 of the way through. Hopefully I'll make progress this weekend after baby birthdays that were rescheduled because of snow.

Eww!

This has been replaced by frigid temps. Spring, where are you?

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Then there was this photo . . .

I've always wanted to do one of these. I've seen them online. I was actually trying to take a photo of a book series.

Looking at the picture I finally realized I had the perfect book for such a pic already in my possession. I was excited. I got a number of Facebook likes for my book face photo, as well.

I told the hubs I should take goofy pictures more often. People seem to like them! 🤣

Have a blessed weekend!

-J