I'm afraid of a lot of things
I'm afraid of the dark, of public speaking,
of dying alone, of those awkward greetings
where he goes for a handshake 
and I go for a knuckle bump
and I end up looking like
an absolute chump
I'm afraid of looking dumb there's so
much to overcome
I'm afraid of being mugged, that I'll
never find true love
I'm afraid that my wife will wake up one morning 
and say she's had enough
and that I'll end up like one of those bums that you find on the street corner
just asking for some spare quarters
you see no matter how old I get
I can't seem to loosen the grip of fear
from my lips I used to have a stutter and
a lisp my s's would thound like thith
and it was so embarrassing to where even now the
remnants of my stutter and lisp play a
much bigger emphasis on my life than I
care to admit
I can't seem to forget
the not too silent diss from the kids in
middle school saying silly michael spit it out
sounding like porky the pig with
a sponge in his mouth
soaking up all the S syllables
as I would stumble over my words
until I would just stop speaking
so my stutter wouldn't be heard and I
know that may sound absurd but I used to
think that I was just this little dude who's throat
swelled up in interviews for fear that
stuttering is not what winners do
I used to tell girls that
they can see some bigger dude who can
converse over dinner food
without sounding clueless like Mr. Magoo
But one day God said "Michael in your weakness my glory will shine through"
and I don't really know what happened
it was definitely not for many of my actions
But like a Holy Spirit chemical reaction my stutter was soon overcome
So this is for the ones who think that no one notices
Who's days are filled with hopelessness
I am living proof that you have a purpose
And that your testimony is bigger than just what is on the surface
Because if God could take David a little shepherd boy and make
him king with no bloodline of royalty
If He could use Paul, a man who hated the Church
to become the leading ambassador of the Gospel
If He could use the disciples men who were told
that they were not good enough to
become the foundations of the Church
Then He can use you
So don't give up and
don't count yourself out
Don't sell yourself short when you have the Spirit of the Lord
because there's no one who can break you
no one who can take you
no one you can shake you
Because the One who created you
is bigger than all of that
He's bigger than all your fears from all
of those years and those tears from crying on your pillows from those years
of wanting to be normal
but God doesn't use those
who are normal he uses those who are willing
willing to be themselves
so Be You the individual not the "you"
that you pieced together from magazine models or Nicholas Sparks novels
Be You
The uniquely created 
Special and sacred individual, You
The one with experiences, opinions, and beliefs
The things that make you unique 
Your scars share them
your broken hearts wear them
Don't let other's critical remarks 
pierce you in the arms like barbs
to where they hold you back from being you
Stay true to being You
No matter what others might do
stay true to being You
because in your weakness God's glory will shine through
Just stay true to being You
