Dear Younger Me: The Long Hard Road

THE LONG HARD ROAD

Dear Younger Me,

Hold on, little girl, to God—never let go. Psalm 139—read it and hold it in your heart.

I'm sorry for the life you were given. You're going to blame God for a long time. You're going to grow far from Him. You will lose your faith thinking that He did you wrong because He did not stop all the pain and the abuse and the violence and the loss you have experienced.

But I'm here to tell you it's not His fault. He has never left you.

I made the wrong choices and so things happened during your teenage and adult years. But [what happened during] our child years that [was] none of our faults … that's called "life entwines with others' lives."

We go through things in our life that build us into who we are so that we can survive and be strong enough to make it through the bad. If we turn away from God, it's not that He isn't there helping us … because He is. He gets us through.

But then when we finally call out to Him and ask Him back into our lives and truly mean it, the walls come down and the healing begins.

So, what I'm trying to say to you, my dearest younger me, is trust in Him with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding—like I did for so long, and it took us down the wrong path and hurt you so. I'm so sorry. But the freedom and forgiveness and the value you will feel through Him—that I have now—is amazing.

It's a long hard road, but Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This is so true.

I love you Susan and so does He, more than anyone.

Susan