Dear You,

Yes, you. We haven’t talked in awhile and I just wanted to say a few things.

I just wanted to tell you how much you are loved – by me, by our family, by God. I know you feel alone and forgotten. I just want you to know that there are people that think of and pray for you in the night watches. We stand on the wall for you, we grieve with you for the wrongs done against you. We know that you aren’t any worse a person than any of us. And while we don’t always understand what you are going through, we are here for you.

I just want you to know that the cloud lifts and the sun shines through. God will lift your head, if you let Him. I want you to know that life is worth living and that there is a plan for you. There is a God who knows that you are mortal, that your days are numbered, and He wants the best for you. I want you to know that, while sometimes He seems out of reach and intangible, God is always there waiting for the moment He can swoop in and save your day. Sometimes the waiting is because you don’t want Him there and sometimes it is because if He saves that particular day, you won’t learn the lesson of the moment.

I also want to share something with you that I learned growing up: making people be friends with you sucks. If people are guilted or manipulated into being your friend, they will always resent you at some point in the relationship. Therefore God probably won’t punch you in the face and say “submit and love me” because where’s the ability to love after that? But you can tell Him that you want to know if He is there, that you are interested in the idea of getting to know Him… and then ask until you know. You know, the whole ask until you receive thing.

It gets better. Kinda. Life doesn’t get better or easier. The world doesn’t become perfect. People will always try to screw you over or piss you off. People you love will still get sick and die. Or just die. But there is hope for something more, something less dead than death, something far less scary. And I want that for you – we want that for you – because that is where purpose and hope are found.

Please, just don’t give up.

I love you.

Love,

Me