First, let me say, I love you.
I really do. SO very much. I would not be where I am today without you. Your love, support, and sometimes, reality checks.
You have pushed me to places that I would have never pushed myself. You have carried me when I (stubbornly) refused to go there.
And now, you get to watch me fly.
Thank you. Thank you for your memories. Thank you for your hugs. Thank you for your stories that you have been willing to share with me. Thank you for your joy and laughter. Thank you for letting me help you carry your burdens. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for your love.
I am going to miss you so very much. But the year is going to fly by. You are going to grow, as am I. We are going to experience new things and see God in new ways. We are going to meet new people and find out things about ourselves.
It is going to be beautiful.
I can’t wait to come back and see how you have changed. To see how God has used you, molded you, loved you.
I am sad, but don’t get me wrong, I am just as excited.
I am excited to get pushed to my limits: Which you have helped me realize are not actually limits
I am excited to experience God’s love: Which you have shown to me in your own ways of loving me
I am excited to live in a community:Which you have taught me to thrive in
I am excited to love loudly: Which you have demonstrated for me
I am excited to be broken: Which you have shown me is actually strength in weakness
I will never be able to really leave any of you behind, because I know you will always be with me wherever I go, and I with you.
I can’t promise that I will update you weekly. I can’t promise that I will not get hurt. I can’t promise that I will live every day like Jesus would. I can’t promise that some days, I won’t just melt into a puddle because I don’t think I can do it.
But I can promise that I will be the feet and hands of Christ. I will be the one whom God chose to go on this race. I promise that I will do my best to be present. I will fight for God’s love to prevail in even the hardest situations. I promise to love, like you all have loved me.
God has a plan for each of you this year. It is amazing and filled with love and laughter. But there will be hardships. And I want you to know that I am not totally out of reach. I want to know what is going on in your life, I want to know your prayer requests and your struggles. I want to know that funny thing that happened or the amazing movie you watched. I want to know all of the little things. Because you are important to me. And just because I might be thousands of miles away doesnt mean that I can’t pray for you or relate to something that is going on.
You all have impacted my life. I am so thankful for the community that God gave me with wonderful people in it who love me despite my flaws. I am thankful for the people that are willing to listen to me rant, and then point me back to Jesus. I am thankful for the people that have been willing to hold me while I cried. I am thankful for the people who have given me that little (or big) push to be all that they knew I could be.
Without you, I would not be me.
I love you to the moon and back, and I will see you in 9 months.
Xoxo,
M
