Dear Tuesday, As I sit here in what has become
“my spot” in the coffee shop, in a town that is slowly starting to feel more
like home (or at least I’m starting to finally embrace it as such), I’m amazed
at how after only a week I’ve grown to love you. I’ve looked forward to meeting
you here for 7 days now. I’ve thought so much about what to tell you and I know
that more will come the longer I type but I only have this thus far: I found
out the hard way this week that I’m not allergic to bees. Can’t believe that it
took me 25 years, 10 months, and 12 days to figure that out, but I’m thankful
nonetheless.
Dear Laura, I’ve prayed and prayed about what to
say to you this week. I’m certain that The Lord is going to do the same thing
for you that He’s done for me and for so many others that have blazed the trail
before us. Enjoy the last week and a half that you have in Boone. Spend as much
time with the people there that love, support, and pray for you. Go out of your
way to. Push yourself when you’re tired to stay up a little bit later, and then
to get up a little earlier. I want you to see as much of that sweet town as
possible. Take pictures, journal, just sit and soak it all in. I wish that I
had done all of these things. You will never see Boone the same way once you
begin your drive down to your new home on the farm. That may sound harsh but I
promise you that I mean it in the best way. The season you’re about to enter is
going to be the greatest one yet for you. When I first moved I heard The Lord
continue to whisper “refinement” to me, and I know that this will also be a
season of refinement for you. Embrace that. Embrace the occasional isolated
feeling that you’ll get. Embrace the time you’re going to get to spend with
your Father and your father. You have so much to learn from both of them.
You’re beautiful in ways that few people are anymore. Classy. Loving. Open.
Honest. Trustworthy. Pliable. I could go on and on about all of the qualities
that I and so many others notice and love about you but let’s be real, it would
embarrass you just as it would me if the roles were reversed haha. So I’ll stop
for now and just end this by saying that I love you and that I’m glad that we
get to experience this next season together.
Dear Anna, a month. That’s how long we went
without sitting down to talk. A month seems like so long but for some reason
when we met up yesterday it was as if no time had passed. The more we talked
the more we realized that we have both changed more than we realized in the
past month. I love you so much for giving me the space that I didn’t want or
didn’t think that I needed to ask for The Lord’s opinion instead of using you
as my safety net. I wouldn’t be where I am today without that. There is
something rare about our friendship. I’ve never had a conversation with you
that I didn’t feel that the Holy Spirit was leading. He’s gently led me to the
most amazing realizations during and after conversations with you. I’m
encouraged to “follow in your footsteps” in this new and mysterious season. Thank
you for being a much needed guide to me and everyone else J. I still can’t stop thinking about those
9 beautiful kids whose lives you changed last week. They are going to be the
ones that will change their classes, schools, families, the community, and eventually
the world. That is your calling. Your testimony is not just limited to
teenagers and adults but it can begin to transform kids of ages that you would
never think to understand what you’ve been through. Keep pushing through,
because you’re one of the trail blazers/guides that the rest of us need. I look
up to you in a way that I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember. You’re the
older sister that I never got biologically. I love you friend.
Dear Abba Father, wow. You’re seriously so good.
So unbelievably good to me. Provision. That’s what You keep telling me and I
couldn’t ask for me. During this time of unemployment, part-time employment,
and job searching you’ve been so undeservingly faithful to me. You’ve never let
me go without in the 3 months of transition. You’re goodness just overwhelms me
in the funniest of places. Even now I’m fighting back the tears in Starbucks. I
choose to value Your plan, Your calling, and Your love over everything else. EVERYTHING.
“It’s not pride to say about me what You said about me.” I need to start
speaking more highly of myself. Thank you for showing me that through P. If I
stay in line with Your word then everything that I speak has got to come to
pass! Thank you for giving me dominion over the things that you’ve given all
humanity dominion over, and thank you for the specific things that you’ve given
me dominion over. Thank you for planning out every detail of my life. I’m 100%
dependent on You. Without You I am powerless and weak. To put it simply, I need
You. All the time, every moment of everyday. I thank You for every test of my
faith. It has helped to develop my perseverance that I need to be mature and
complete as You intended for me when I was created. I know that you know all
the things that break my heart, I know that they broke Your heart long before I
was aware. And I know that they break Your heart even more. Thank you for
letting me see even a glimpse of that pain. It’s created such a hunger and
desire in me. It doesn’t matter that Satan wants to destroy people that I love
and that He doesn’t want the world to cry out to you. But that doesn’t matter
because those people will know you and the world will all love
You as I do one day, regardless of what he thinks. The devil wants children to
be living on the streets, not knowing where they will sleep, what they eat or
what they will have to do to survive another day. But I know that You never
created too many children and not enough people to watch after them. More than
that though, I realize that You never really called us to save the world, not
even to save one person; that is Your job. You’ve just called us to love with
abandon. And that is just what I need to remind myself whenever I struggle with
a certain number on my “quit list” cough#15cough. Perfect timing yet
again Jesus. Only You could line things up like You do. Thank you for Your
perfect timing. I love You with everything that I am and everything that I hope
to be.
Tuesday, I realize that I got a little gushy on
you today. Thank you for listening anyway and thank you for always lending me
your ear (or in this case the blank canvas that this letter started on). You’ll
never know how much I appreciate that. Until next week. #twofingers
