Love Letters
Do you remember your first love letter? I do. It was to my 5th Grade boyfriend, Greg, which would have made it somewhere around 1993. I can remember wanting to make it perfect so that it conveyed my love for him. I spent hours on that letter, which looking back was only a few sentences and ended with a “Do you love me too? Check Yes or No”. {sidebar: I miss the check Yes or No option at the end of letters. Do you?}
I’m not sure the exact date of the love letter, but I know that it was just before or just after 5th grade, I was at summer church camp. I was probably busy writing the ultimate love letter when I should have been learning about Jesus! All I can remember is that I was so nervous handing that letter to my best friend, Breann, so that she could give it to his best friend, Corey. {Sidebar: Pre-texting life was so much more suspenseful, rather than just pushing send you had to sit with the suspense of will my letter get there?!?}
I remember sitting in the night church service and watching as Corey pass the love letter to Greg. I was so nervous as I saw him read the letter thoughts raced through my mind:
Did he feel the same?
Will he check “Yes”?
Did I explain my feeling adequately?
While Greg never really confirmed in words that it was indeed the perfect love letter, that night, he did walk me back to my dorm and kissed me under a lamppost, so I guess if nothing else, I know that it was “good enough.” {Fun Fact: The one detail I remember of my first kiss was that he had on a lot of Carmex lol}
Looking back, that was the easiest love letter that I have ever written. Truthfully, they only got harder as I got older. Regardless of who the love letter was written to, I always wanted to make sure it was just right and that I got my emotions into words that could be read and understood by the receiver.
In 2006, I heard a Mother Teresa quote that stirred something in my soul:
“I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.”
Mother Teresa
It resonated with me at such a deep level, and I knew then at that moment that I was about to begin writing the most profound love letter I would ever write, my love letter to the world. At that moment, God whispered to me; this love letter is your gift to the world; it’s your purpose and your legacy all in one.
The truth is I believe my love letter began the day I was born, I didn’t know it yet, but it wasn’t until 2006 when I picked up the pen. These past few weeks, 14 years later, I have found myself thinking more about my love letter to the world more than ever before. During this new way of doing things where we are “physical distancing and retreating for wellness,” I have found myself thinking more about my future and my purpose. {sidebar: Don’t these sound so much better than social distancing, isolation, and quarantine?}
During this time, I have enjoyed having the time to be still and seek God because the reality is I’m 40 years old and want to make sure I impact, empower and ignite as many people as possible.
This past month I have been thinking more and more about legacies, and one legacy stands out to me, the heritage of my maternal grandma, Maudie. Before she passed, she hand wrote her memoirs and had it bound into a book entitled, A Glimpse into My Life, and then she had 14 copies printed, one for each of her grandchildren. It is one of my most prized possessions.
Her memoirs offer a deep, intimate, and real glimpse into her life, and although she is absent in human form, I feel her closeness. Truthfully, I wish my mom had kept a handwritten memoir that would offer me a glimpse into her life, allowing me to know her and learn from her lessons intimately, but that will have to remain a wish.
Then today, while I was in the shower {where I seem to do my best thinking and listening, you too?}, God whispered to me that I need to offer a glimpse into my life, and the truth is this isn’t the first time he has whispered this to me.
A few years ago, I felt the same nudge, I went as far as to buy the domain, www.aglimpseintomylife.com, but that was as far as I got, then. But, today was different, today I knew that it’s time to go deeper into my love letter, bare more of my journey and to commit to illuminating the path for as many people as possible.
Today, April 5th, 2020, is the day I commit to getting more intimate and giving a deeper glimpse into my journey in hopes to fulfill my purpose on this planet adequately, because…
My love letter is my legacy.
Dear {insert your name}
It is my hope that by offering you a glimpse into my life, it opens a deeper insight into your own and that by hearing more about my journey, you are more empowered on your own.
May my own story be a reminder that you are strong enough, worthy enough, and that you have the power to create a reality and life you love. \
I want you to know that whether or not you believe it, your creation was not an accident, it was with a purpose, and in perfection, you have to choose to see it and own it.
This letter is your reminder that “it” will be okay and that this moment you are going through is only a moment, it is for you, don’t for a minute choose to believe it is happening to you.
Don’t allow any part of your story to become an anchor that holds you back from creating and living a life you love! Stay rooted in where you have been and use every part of your journey as fertilizer to grow more, love more, and be more.
I hope that as you take a more in-depth look into my journey that you will learn tools to help you along the way with your journey. Know that I believe in you, which matters, but what matters is that you believe in you.
Innately, DRM xoxo
And so today, the most intimate part of my love letter to the world begins and it is for YOU – I will be sharing more of me with you.
