Agape Leader's recently released their first Monday Motivation! A bi-weekly series that is made by some leaders to help with your spiritual growth and leadership development! These videos are posted on our YouTube page. There you can also find our weekly Word Wednesdays too. 

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​Agape Leaders’ website has been completely revamped by the talented Jessica Maldonado. She has dragged our organization into the 21st century with her on point graphics and exceptional designs. But don’t take our word for it, you can see her work first hand by perusing our website or by visiting her website at vichesniche.com

This month’s guest writer is Madison Deaton. She is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in kinesiology. She is also a certified nutrition coach and personal trainer. She is the owner of The Fit Flamingo Studio, in Plano, TX. The studio is a 40-foot shipping container she converted into a safe space for women.
With a positive energy that transcends just being a fitness coach, Madison seeks to help women love who they are, right where they are. Her goal with The Fit Flamingo Studio is to create a safe place where women can gather, speak vulnerably and authentically, and grow in their self-love and body resilience.
It is an honor to have Madison Deaton writing this month’s Agape Letter. We believe you will enjoy her message too.

 I don’t know you.
 And yet I do.
You’re my brother. You’re my sister. You’re my friend and fellow seeker of the Light, searching for truth in the darkest of places. You’re showing up even when it’s hard. You’re facing the giants of this life even when you’re running low on stones to throw. I see you and I’m so honored to share this space with you.

 So friend, I beg of you!!! Show up to each day in the way that only you can. Do it unapologetically. Show up with bravery and an unmatched fierceness, even in the midst of your doubt and faithless nights.
 
Show up on the good days and show up on the tough days too. Show up when you’re filled with joy and know that you can show up even on the days when the depression feels too heavy to lift you off the floor.
 
For you don’t have to show up perfect. You just have to show up as you. Fully you.  
Because that’s where the magic is.
 
You see, God will always use where we’re at to grow us. Every season of this life has meaning. Each struggle shapes the narrative of our story. Every high offers a new vantage point and every low is filled full with lessons to be learned.
 
So soak in each season. Treasure the periods of waiting. Trust in your slow and steady growth. Find the strength to be grateful, even when the answer is “no.”
 
Because there is magic to be found as we sit within our story, without rushing to the next chapter.
 
So sit with your sadness, anger, loneliness and disappointment. Sit with your joy, victories, blessings, and peace. Sit with your scars, trauma, hurts, and baggage. Sit with them long enough to know what they came to teach and reveal to you.
 
And as you let yourself feel and experience all that this life has to offer, I hope you remember to cling to God and to the ones who remind you of your enough-ness. Be determined to find moments of hope and light, even in the midst of your messy middle.
 
For there is always Light to be found for those who look for it.
 
Dear friend, your Creator has already given you everything you need to live a life fulfilled. You have every tool and every idea already inside of you!!! You don’t have to become like someone else or do what someone else is doing. Because if you do, you will miss out on the very thing that God is calling YOU (and only you) to.
 
So be you.
 
Tell your story.
 
Follow the call that has been placed on your heart.
 
Because we need you to show up in all of your fullness. This is the fullness you were born to claim.
 
For you have always been enough just as you are.
 
So be you. Fully you. In the ways that only you can.
 
I’m sending you so much love.
 
You are enough.
 
With love,
Madison Deaton.
 
Ps! If you’d like to connect with me online, you can find me @thefitflamingo on Instagram and more resources for owning your enough-ness on my website @ thefitflamingo.com. You can also find me on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/madisondeaton/. I’d love to hear what this season of life is revealing to you :)

​Our first guest writer is Miss St. Petersburg Outstanding Teen 2020, Kayley Klatt. She is a recent graduate of Oviedo High School and will be attending Rollins College in the fall. She has held several local titles in the Miss America Organization, earning top 5 recognition during the Miss Florida Outstanding Teen competitions in 2018 and 2019. Her social initiative platform is Be an Upstander: Bullying Prevention. She is passionate about galvanizing Upstanders to help stop bullying. One of her Instagram posts says, “When bystanders become UPSTANDERS positivity shines through.” We are proud to have Kayley Klatt as our first featured writer. We believe you will be as pleased as we are.

At eleven years old I experienced the effects of bullying for the very first time. I had been picked on and pushed around prior to this experience but it didn’t ever affect me. The fifth grade was different - the picking on, pushing around, and hurtful words seemed never-ending. Even more heart wrenching - this behavior was coming from who I considered to be my closest friends. Because of their behavior, because I believed their comments, because I trusted them, I was changed from the school-loving, care-free, light at the end of the tunnel fifth-grader to one who felt lost in confusion, heart-break, and negativity. I didn’t understand how those I thought I knew and loved so much and who loved me could be the same friends who joined forces to tear me down. 
 At the time I attended an incredibly small school and had been since I was four. A school so small that we were one, big family. How could family be so destructive? I was so confused, but I kept it all in. I didn’t think much of it, I thought it would blow over and suddenly disappear - I was naive. It came to a point where I couldn’t keep it in any longer, my attitude changed and I was filled with anger. I remember talking to my parents with a steady stream of tears as I expressed my frustrations, confusion, and heart-break. I remember my parents calling the principle while I cried in their closet, calling my friend to tell her how I felt. I remember my parents calling other parents to politely address the situation and understand what was taking place. One thing that wasn’t evident at the time was how bruised I really was. Yes, I had the luxury of supportive parents and teachers. No, I was not physically bullied, there was no physical bruising. I was mentally bruised, I was the victim of verbal and social bullying which can be just as damaging as physical bullying. This became evident as the years went by and I would bully myself by not loving myself to the best of my ability. I kept my guard up when making new friends and had what can best be described as a shield around my heart. I wasn’t going to let myself experience a heart break like that again. It wasn’t until recently that I slowly let my guard down and it happened again - several times. These next times was a close mentor, next - a friend, then another friend, then another adult, all of which whose actions and comments and talking behind my back, hurt. I began to understand that these were life's bumpy roads and that I would most likely encounter these experiences in the workforce as well. It was after that realization that I had developed a mentality that I would be proud of who I was and stand up for myself or anyone else who was going through a similar experience. I didn’t let these experiences tear me down and I stood my ground.
Now, at seventeen years old, I still have moments of doubt and insecurity. I continue to come across people who feel empowered by taking the power away from others. I keep my guard up slightly and allow myself to feel defeated but I live by Michelle Obama’s quote, “When they go low, we go high.”. I will not let myself stoop to that level, I will not let my confidence be stripped from me, and I will not let our youth experience an experience similar to mine. I am writing not only to tell my story but to empower our youth, to empower teenagers, to empower the people of tomorrow to have confidence in themselves in order to spread an immense amount of kindness. I urge you to use your voice to put an end to the bullying epidemic. I urge you to love yourself unconditionally and to treat yourself with nothing but respect because there is so much to be proud of. I urge you to be the change. We must listen to our own words and realize that in order to stop the bullying epidemic we must unite, use our voices, and set a precedent for our youth. I am writing to inform those who may not have the strongest support system to tell you that we care, we are here for you.