Tag: 31 Days of Letters

Dear Weekend {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

Dear Weekend,

Parting with you is so very bittersweet.  I usually don’t acknowledge the imminence of your departure because it’s too painful.  My weeks are nothing to dread – no laborious job, no duties I despise – but there’s an element of freedom that begins to build come Friday which rarely makes an appearance during the work week.

You offer unconstrained time.  Hours are strung together with nothing to hold them hostage.  You are like a blank canvas waiting to be splashed with colors and textures of the artist’s own choosing.  Spontaneity is your medium, and there are no rules.

As a planner, I find your unscheduled-self refreshing.  I can be the author of chaos or calm.  Whatever I choose you will most certainly oblige.  With such manners, it’s no wonder why people, like myself, love you.

I love how I can sleep in, read a book for hours, and watch too much Downton Abbey all on your time without feeling guilty.  I love how you have a time for worship, community, service, and fellowship.  I love that there is time to be still and time for adventure.

All this to say, I can’t bear to bid farewell.  Even knowing that ours is only a temporary parting does not ease the sense of loss that Monday brings.  Please slip away quietly and be swift in your return.

Sincerely,

Emily

 

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.

Dear Kenya {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ 4 Comments

Dear Kenya,

Yours is a beautiful and brutal land.  It is wild and lush, exotic yet harsh.  Your people are strong and stubborn.  I am captivated by your traditions, your children, your history and future.  I could write a million words to describe what two weeks with you did to my heart.  Instead, I will let images speak in my stead.

 

Sincerely,

Emily

 

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.

Dear Emily {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ Leave a comment

Dear Emily,

I realized, after writing you that previous letter, I had much more to say.  I could write an advice dictionary to you, with all of my words-to-the-wise in alphabetical order and explained in detail.  Though that would appeal to my type A personality, I think even my younger self would rebel against such blatant superiority.

Superiority is far from what I’m trying to communicate with any advice I give you. Sure, you make mistakes, but believe me when I say, you continue to make mistakes as you grow older and “wiser.”  However, in 25 years, I’ve begun to recognize a pattern in your mistakes and struggles.  You have an insatiable desire to do everything right and do it right the first time around.

There’s a danger in this striving for perfection that has made your journey seem more primitive than it needs to be.  You desperately seek God’s will and His direction for your life, but you focus on the minutia of His answer.  I’ve learned over the past 25 years that God’s still small voice likes to communicate the big picture.

Maybe that mode of communication is unique to us because God knows we spend too much time fixating on details.  Regardless, after years of burdened prayers asking God to reveal His will, that still small voice led me to a verse that becomes our hearts cry over and over again.  I’d like to make you privy to this knowledge a little earlier in hopes that you can avoid some tears and confusion.

It’s quite simple, really.  There are three things that always comprise God’s will for you: joy, prayer, and gratitude.

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  {1 Thessalonians 5:16-18}

Joy, constant prayer, and giving thanks are always God’s will.  The surest way to do the right thing the first time is to be joyful in any circumstance, steep your decisions in prayer, and give praise to God for the outcome.

My dear Em, even in their simplicity, all three are difficult to do without God’s strength and grace.  You won’t always choose to be joyful or choose prayer before action or choose to give thanks.  But, devote yourself to these disciplines. Pursuing them, even when you fail, is always more fruitful than striving after your own plans and purposes.

Sincerely,

Emily

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.

Dear J {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ Leave a comment

Dear J,

Within an hour, I knew you had to be the most courageous young woman I know.  You project a resilience and strength I can’t even fathom possessing after what your life has held.  While we talked yesterday, I kept on thinking of Joshua.  Your stories may be different but they aren’t devoid of commonalities.

As a youngster, Joshua lived through the bitter reality of slavery in Egypt.  Once free from the rule of Pharaoh, Joshua stood out among his people.  He lead the Israelites to victory in countless battles, and he alone was allowed to accompany Moses on the holy mountain to receive the the tablets of testimony.

Joshua was the representative of his tribe to scope out the land God had promised the Israelites, and was one of two men who could look beyond the giants to see a land flowing with milk and honey.  When the time came, God elected Joshua to establish His people in the promised land.

Oppression, pain, and hardship marked the beginning of Joshua’s life.  When things appeared to be improving, he was thrust into 4o years of wilderness wandering because of other people’s bad choices.  Then, Joshua was given the burden of leadership, the weight of responsibility for protecting God’s people.

God exhorts Joshua to “be strong and courageous!” in the midst of his situation.  God has called to you, J, with a similar plea.  In the midst of pain and hardship that no person should ever experience, you bear your burden with strength and dignity.

You are beautiful and brave!  You possess a Biblical view of forgiveness that I can only hope to attain one day.  I admire your persistence and endurance.

Know that you are loved.  You are loved by people on earth and loved by a your Heavenly Father.  Your Abba made a promise to Joshua and makes it to you as well:

Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  {Joshua 1:9}

You may not always feel Him, but He is with you.  Turn to Him in your times of darkness and bask in the life giving light of His love.

With love,

Emily

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.

Dear Tim {31 Days of Letters}

~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

My Love,

I had this letter all planned out.  I was going to watch our wedding video while you were at work yesterday and comment on what a great reminder it is of our beginnings and our journey and our promises.  But then, this week happened, with its ups and downs, its stress.  Yesterday did not go as planned – instead of writing about how wonderful you are, I got to witness more examples of your wonderfulness in real time.

Part of your wonderfulness stems from a vulnerability I don’t often see in men.  I love that you share your thoughts, fears, feelings, joys, and concerns so honestly with me.   Your transparency is contagious and is often the nudge I need to look beyond myself, to take down the blinders of self-focus.

Part of your wonderfulness comes from the passions I see God growing in your heart.  Your desire to see students follow after Christ is powerful.  I see your love and care for young people etched on your heart everyday as you engage in ministry.  You have stretched my own heart in this area as we serve and partner together.

Part of your wonderfulness is how you love me.  Your love makes me feel cherished, beautiful, desired, adored, and respected.  Your love makes me feel known.  You know me and you still love me.  Your love gives me a glimpse of God’s love.  If you love me despite my selfishness and sin, why do I doubt that God could love me in the same (and even greater) way?

Part of your wonderfulness is just YOU!  I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else.

I am more proud of you everyday.  I am more in love with you everyday.  I am more grateful to God that you are my husband everyday.

Happy five monthiversary!

Love,

Your Em

You can find all my letters here.

For more information about the 31 Day Challenge, visit The Nester.