Dear Future Debbie,
Well, hello there! It must be hard to believe, but The World Race is over. I have many hopes for you, future self. I hope you loved this past year. I hope you made friends all over the world. I hope you learned how to cook something new in each country. I hope you stayed healthy, and if you didn’t, I hope God taught you something through it.
I hope God taught you lots of things. I hope He taught you how to be a grown-up woman of God. I hope He taught you how to balance things – how to balance childlike wonder with a mature faith, how to balance actually feeling your feelings with maintaining a peaceful spirit. I hope that “God loves me” means something more to you now, that it makes you feel something beyond security and well-being. I hope it makes you excited!
I hope you learned a lot about love. God’s love, the love among the family of believers, the love of family and friends from across many miles, love for the unlovely. I even hope God gave you a clue about marriage and if that is something He wants for you.
Self, I’m sure it’s been a year that’s been amazing and hard, that crawled by and that went too fast. The great news is there’s still so much to look forward to in this post-Race life. So remember everything you can…but don’t get stuck living in memories. God has much more in store. Keep your eyes open.
Love,
Me
Here and now, for the next year, I give myself permission to:
-
Cry when I’m homesick.
-
Not feel bad about not feeling homesick.
-
Be over-competitive on game nights with my team.
-
Be bold.
-
Talk to strangers (lots of them).
-
Imagine God in new ways.
-
Change.
Let’s get this thing on the road!
