Dear Younger Me (Heather's Version)

You might think that this is a wasted blog post. In reality, it could be summed up really quickly. Dear younger me, “don’t have an affair”! But, if it was that easy, adultery wouldn’t be destroying marriages and families at an alarming rate and Rusty and I wouldn’t be getting more calls than you could ever imagine from people going through the same thing! So, instead of trying to make it that simple, I want to dig deep into what I would really say to “the younger me”!

September 2^nd is a very special day for me. On this day in 2011, my life changed forever. It was several days after my sin was made public and everything was out in the open. It was a day that my God loved me enough to break me. He loved me enough to let my world fall apart. He loved me enough to let me cry out for mercy so that He could save my soul. This was the day that changed everything! I fell in love with Jesus more than I ever knew was possible. With me being so in love with Jesus and seeking after Him with everything I had, Satan was supposed to stay away, right? Wrong. It seems like that is when He tries to trip you up the most. Have you ever felt that way?

Let me give you an example. Several days after my life changing experience with The Lord, I was driving down the road by myself and I saw someone from my story that I needed to run away from coming towards the same 4 way stop I was approaching. I knew that if I went right, I would pass him and maybe throw an “I’m sorry” wave his direction. Everything in my flesh was saying “Go Right! It couldn’t hurt anything. You hurt him so much. You could at least try to give him a sympathetic wave. I mean you owe him at least that much, right?” But, the Holy Spirit was screaming at me to “GO LEFT!” It wasn’t a whisper either. It was a big red flag waving in my face and the Holy Spirit was fighting for me!” So, even though my flesh didn’t want to, I turned left and the whole time I was screaming at myself “Go left, Heather! Go left!” Turning Left was a victory for me that day. It was such a rush to have actually heard the Holy Spirit and then to listen to His voice. It made me wonder when I had quit hearing it.

If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is in you and is there to guide you as you go. So, dear younger me, please know that the Holy Spirit is with you and listen to his voice. If you ignore it again and again, you will stop hearing it. Dear Younger me, watch for red flags that are trying to alert you to things that will hurt your relationship with Him. If you start to ignore them, the flags start to fade. Things that should cause a check in your spirit start to feel normal. Things that “everyone else is doing” become things that you do as well. Things that used to make you feel uncomfortable are suddenly ok. Judging others suddenly becomes your joy and taking care of your outward appearance becomes so much more important that taking care of your heart.

Listen to Him. However He speaks to you, listen. He might speak through a song, a friend, a sermon, a devotion, or a blog. Whenever you hear His voice, even if it is just a whisper, run to Him. Run with everything that you have and fall at His feet.

Dear Younger Me, I have seen what else it out there and I choose Jesus. Go Left!