Dear Doris,
I don’t think you will ever get a chance to read this, but I sure hope you do someday when you’re older. You will probably never realize the impact you had on my life during the time I was with you at Royal Oak Academy. Every day when I walked into class, you acted as if you had been waiting your whole life to see me. Our days were filled with hugs and cuddles and naps and laughs. I watched you open up and push yourself out of your comfort zone. I witnessed trials and failures, but I also witnessed so many victories (big and small).
You taught me so much about the love God has for His children. I developed such a deep love for you in the 3 weeks that I knew you, and you weren’t even my own child. Nothing you could have done would have made me love you any more or any less. I can’t even imagine how long and wide and high and deep the of love of a perfect, Heavenly Father is for His daughter (Ephesians 3:18-19). Being a new student, you were timid and afraid at the beginning of the month. I celebrated when I heard you speak and laugh for the first time in class. I exclaimed, “That’s my girl!” when you finally mastered something you had been working so hard toward. I had compassion when you were left out, when you wanted so desperately to fit in. I soaked up every moment when you just wanted to rest in my lap and be in my presence. I mourned with you when you cried on my shoulder. I missed you when you ran away to be with one of your other “Aunties.” I grieved when I looked back at you as I had to walk away for the last time at the end of the month.
My prayer for you moving forward is that you know God will never leave you, even though people may come and go. I pray that you will understand the power of the Gospel one day and realize that is why I had to leave. I pray that you will grow strong in the Lord and trust in Him always. I pray that your contagious smile and laugh will keep bringing light to the darkest places. I pray that you realize how beautiful you are and that the beauty within you is enough. I pray that you realize that God’s unfailing love for you has been there from the beginning. I pray that you continue to love others with all your heart as a result of the love you receive. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
I hope to be with you again one day and see all that you have become. In the meantime, I will be praying for you every day. I know that God is holding you better than I ever could.
All my love,
Aunty Amanda
