Our time is short, I know, and so much has happened since we last saw each other five years ago. I have some really phenomenal stories, all of which I hope you’ll enjoy one day. I can’t tell you everything—who could? Dear friend, I know you like to know the end before you start the story, but trust me when I say this one is better for the mystery. One thing I will not even attempt to say is that it will be easy. You know better than to believe that, of course, no matter who it is trying to convince you. Still, here are a few things I thought were worth mentioning, as someone a couple pages ahead of you. Take them for what you will; you’ve been taught to check your sources, and I’m hardly a foolproof one, as we both know.
You will face things you never expected to—and things that you always told yourself you would never be able to live through. You will live through them. More than that, you will thrive through them, even though there will be moments when you wish you could curl up in a dark room and pretend to be invisible for a while. You will not come out the other side quite like you imagined, but most of the growth will be for the better. Moments will be hard, and scary, and at times life will seem utterly at odds with…well, everything.
You will never be alone. Not for one part of a second. I know that you will forget this sometimes, but please do try to remember it as often as you can. It will make your life easier, and it might help you to remember that you are really not the center of the world.
God works all things to His glory. Try to remember that too; I’m terribly bad at it, and I think starting earlier might have helped.
You will meet extraordinary people, in a thousand different settings. You will rearrange your schedule, spend money you barely have, and drive ridiculous distances because you cannot stop yourself from helping. The best moments of your life will be in the middle of conversations, reunions, get-togethers, and late-night confessions. The people you know now, and that you will meet soon, will be ones that you will keep your whole life. Thankfully, God has arranged it so that they will keep you as well—keep you sane, keep you laughing, and keep you humble when you most need it. (And I know, my friend, that you feel the desperate need to be in charge, but do not try to control them; they don’t need it, and they’re only humoring you anyway.)
You will learn each and every day. You will also teach, and discover that you’re pretty good at it. Try not to let it go to your head—you still have lots to learn.
If I can give you just a few bits of advice, it would be the things that most helped me: listen to the wisdom of the more mature believers you are currently privileged to have as friends, teachers, and counselors. Learn to listen more than you speak (I haven’t quite managed this one yet either, if that makes you feel any better). Choose your words with care; people are actually listening to you. Observe the world around you for what it is, but do it through the lenses of love and compassion. Learn absolutely everything you can, and then analyze it until you can use it. Rely always on Him. Rely always on Him. He will be the one to feed you, clothe you, protect you, bless you, and straighten you out when you get too full of yourself.
I think of you often, and I glimpse you from time to time, as I think you do me. Know that you are loved and fondly remembered. We have our paths ahead of us, and we are both growing, slowly, into the shape of the person God wants us to be. It is not an easy journey. But then, neither of us would enjoy it if it was.
With His Love,
Your Distant but Faithful Friend
