Positively Promless

No limo. No ruffled dress. No dancing shoes.

Just a boat full of average girls like me who are dateless too.

How come a cute guy hasn’t asked me to prom?

This is so typical.

I didn’t want to go anyways…

Does this sound like a conversation you’ve had with your girlfriends? If so, here are three tips to help you survive when you’re positively promless:

1. Forget the formality of a date.

You can go to prom with your girlfriends and have just as much fun hanging with them. Or, if you prefer to skip prom, set aside some fun time for another graduation celebration activity. Create your own theme for an evening and take lots of pictures of you and your friends. Stay up late talking and telling stories about how you survived high school. Recall your ups and downs. Doing this gives you strength for the next chapter in life.

2. Look to the future.

Sure prom is special, but it’s not everything. Anytime you feel jilted, try flipping loss on its side, and consider what you have gained. I have learned that what might look like a loss may not really be a loss at all. I missed my senior prom. I was positively promless, but I attended Grad Night at Disney World with my friends instead.

I’ll never forget all the fun we had running around Tomorrow Land in tennis shoes and riding Space Mountain. How much does standing in the moonlight under Cinderella’s Castle beat hairspray and high heels, anyways!? When I missed prom, I didn’t know I was going to get to go to Grad Night at Disney. See? There’s always something good around the corner. Don’t let yourself get too down. Keep looking to the brighter side of things.

3. Realize you are loved.

Your value isn’t dictated by whether some gorgeous guy asks you out on a date. No way! You are way more special than that. As you think about yourself, take the word “average” out of your vocabulary. Why? Because average doesn’t describe the wonderful young woman God make in you! Believe it. It’s true.

If you want to understand your true worth, you’ve got to look into Jesus’ eyes, not the eyes of any common man. That’s a good lesson to learn now, because even later in life when you’re married you’ll need to be secure in Christ first. No one can fulfill the deepest longings of your heart but the Lord. As you get hold of God’s image of you, you’ll become a beautiful reflection of His glory.

The Lord cares for you deeply. He’s the only one who loves you so much that He gave his life to win your heart.  

I like the song “You Laid Aside Your Majesty.” Try thinking about these lyrics when you feel lonely or disappointed.

I really want to worship you, My Lord
You have won my heart and I am yours
For Ever and Ever
I will love you
You are the only one who died for me
Gave your life to set me free
So I lift my voice to you in adoration  

Regardless if you’re going to prom or not, God makes this awesome promise to you:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11, NIV

You did it! You made it through high school and you have so much to celebrate. Congratulations!

I know God has great things in store for you.

~ Jackie O.