(Original Post 3/22/19 – Reposted 3/5/2021)

Friday nights are date nights at our house. They haven’t always been, but when I went back to school to finish my degree while working full-time it soon became evident that if my husband and I wanted much more of a conversation beyond “Have a great day” each morning, we were going to have to claim it intentionally.

And Friday night date night was born. Sometimes it’s dinner and a movie, or trying a new restaurant, but often just staying home sounds like the best date ever! So tonight we went for a walk with the dog, ate soup and watched the 2018 Fred Rogers documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” =)

I’ve long been a fan of Mr. Rogers and the neighborhood.

When the kids were very small, I remember donating more to our local PBS station than we could really afford just because the donor gift was a Daniel Striped Tiger puppet, which I do believe I loved just as much as they! Like so many other families, we welcomed Mr. Rogers and friends like Mr. McFeely and Officer Clemons into our living room each day. And from the Neighborhood of Make-Believe we imagined and learned important lessons from Daniel, X the Owl, King Friday and so many others, including an anthropomorphized trolley!

Fred Rogers was a revolutionary in the early television industry, finding it more important to form relationships with children than just entertain them. And his message was always the same, decade after decade:

“I like you just the way you are.”

That has me thinking tonight……wouldn’t it be great if we all had our own Mr. Rogers, that person who always sees the best in us, always cheers us on, is always willing to listen to our fears, hurts, joys, dreams, disappointments for as long as we want to talk, or not talk….just to be there to remind us that we’re enough, just the way we are?

I’ve not always thought the most positive things about myself. I’ve questioned so many decisions I’ve made and still struggle at times with not feeling “enough” of whatever it is I think I should be. I sometimes wonder if there was anything I could have said or done to change things and worry that I might not have what it takes to follow the dreams God is placing in my heart. I struggle with envy of those who have what I so deeply desire and sometimes I want to just throw my hands up and ask God what I did wrong?

Ever feel that way?

But I always come back to the one who sees me and speaks words of love and acceptance far better than even Mr. Rogers could. No one knows my heart like Jesus. He sees the parts that I keep from everyone else, he knows my past and knows my heartache. He knows my tendency to compare and quietly holds me through every “Why me?” valley. He never pushes me to hurry through the hard places, but gently lets me know when it’s time to release it to him and find peace. He truly does see me and love me just the way I am. Such grace…..

What others say about us or even what we believe about ourselves doesn’t define us if it isn’t sifted through the filter of how God sees us. That’s what truly matters, and I choose to believe his voice above all others. I pray it is yours as well – we can believe it together.

You are loved!

Shellie ♥

You Say
Lauren Daigle