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So I wrote a midnight letter (really it was even later) to a small group of high school girls that I will get the privilege of working with this year. Someone will give it to them next week at their beginning of the year retreat since I cannot be with them. I want to encourage them this year because, even though they don't know it, they will water my soul. I taught each of them in ninth grade so I know a little bit of who they are, but I look forward to discovering the bigger gift they are to me and the world.
I know they won't read this blog, so I can share these very sentimental thoughts about them. We meet for the first time tomorrow, and I hope we will share life just where we are. (Karly, such a beautiful girl inside and out, has already said to me that she is so glad I am her small group leader this year. Choke and a million smiles from my heart to her.)
Hey Girls,
Even though I am not with you right now on retreat, I wish I
were. And you know if I were, I would
ask you questions because well that’s what I do best. I want to know you and I
want YOU to know YOU.
If we are all painfully truthful, we know that we experience
those exhausted moments when we question what is going on in our life. We question how God could possibly be working
good through the difficulty we are in.
And then we might even add the worry about questioning God. (He is big and can handle it.)
We wonder if we have the strength to meet all the demands of
friends, coaches, teachers, work, and parents.
We worry that we don’t measure up to others’ expectations, or worse, our
own. And how do we gain balance between the
not caring of complacency and the continual striving to do well for others and ourselves?
And do you want to live this school year begrudging the
mundane? How many times do we have to
hear ourselves say we are bored before we are bored by that? And we feel helpless to change it. What do we really want to replace boredom
with? How can we change the pattern of our same as usual days and going through
the motions moments that we allow our days to become?
Sometimes, we wrap our thoughts in a cocoon to hide because
we feel alone and trapped in our doubt and fears and expectations and stress
and ordinary. It feels too risky to let
others see our exhaustion, stress, pain, and worries.
And then we wonder how what is on the page in the Good Book can really break through and make
any real and lasting change to these kinds of days, these kinds of thoughts,
these kinds of feelings.
And here’s a radical statement: believe it or not, we can find peace and joy
and rest and contentment in the midst of the lives that we are living right
now. I get to come to you every once in
a while and speak some words into your life and then leave. I hope you know that I really want to speak
words that are real and authentic and true and Divine. So at the start of this year while you are at retreat,
I am taking a chance to ask this question that is on my mind for you this year
that I would ask if I were sitting with you.
I hope you take this question seriously.
WHEN THE END OF SCHOOL IN MAY COMES AND YOU LOOK BACK ON THIS YEAR,
WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO BE ABLE TO
SAY ABOUT IT?
If I could sit with you in a group now, I know no one would
answer, “Well, Mrs. Roberson, I really hope
I will be able to say that I was a failure, anxious, scared, worried, bored, lost, fearful,
exhausted, pretending to be something I am not really…. No one sits and plans for these kinds of things. No one thinks they hope they feel doubtful
and defeated at times. No one hopes they
get tangled in the web of procrastination or comparison or aloneness.
And again---in May what do you hope to be able to say about
this year? Don’t hope to skip to
May. You are not going to get any MORE
time in your life for this moment or more TIME for today or MORE DAYS for this
year or more DAYS for your LIFE. Please
stop wanting to race to the end of this year in order to get to the next year,
to get today over with to get someplace. God has some things He wants to speak to your
heart today, tomorrow, next week, all the way to May. Live
the God ordained moments! Look for the God ordained in the moment!
He has a plan for you that is for good and for joy despite
the pit you may feel you are in sometimes.
And your answers to finding how you can begin to understand it begin
with following Daniel into his pit. When
it got really hard and scary and worrisome and---He praised! He praised and his eyes looked up!
So truly, the few moments it will seem like we have together,
I am going to fight with my words
and smiles and songs and prayers for you to
expect and plan and hope for joy and peace in the every days: the
cloudy days, the messy days, the weary days, the I am pretending days, and the I
can’t stay awake days.
Then maybe while you are living a life right now fully
present to what you are experiencing, you will know that expecting God and
planning to experience God comes through praising Him in gratitude in spite of
your surroundings, and you will be enveloped by the unordinary, the Divine, the
joy, the peace, that you didn’t think you could find.
Don’t hope for May….Make each of your moments this year what
you hope to say about your days in May.
And to end our time together in this letter, if I could sing
you a song to sleep or awake, this is the song I would sing:
These Are the Words I Would Say by the Sidewalk Prophets
Three in the morning, and I’m still awake
So I picked up a pen and a page
And I started writing just what I’d say
If we were face to face
I’d tell you just what you mean to me
Tell you these simple truths
Be strong in the Lord
And never give up hope
You’re gonna do great things
I already know
God’s got His hand on You
So don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget
But don’t forget why you’re here
Take your time and pray
These are the words I would say
Last time we spoke you said you were hurting
And I felt your pain in my heart
I want to tell you that I keep on praying
That love will find you where you are
I know cause I’ve already been there
So please hear these simple truths
Be strong in the Lord
And never give up hope
You’re going to do great things
I already know
God’s got His hand on You
So don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget
But don’t forget why you’re here
Take your time and pray
These are the words I would
Say… from one simple life to another
I will say… come find peace in the Father
Be strong in the Lord
And never give up hope
You’re gonna do great things
I already know
God’s got His hand on You
So don’t live life in fear
Forgive and forget
But don’t forget why you’re here
Take your time and pray
And thank God for each day
His love will find a way
Theshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bItzgw7OAUe are the words I would say
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bItzgw7OAU
Blessings for the beginning of something new in you this year.
INVITE…PLAN…HOPE…EXPECT…GIVE THANKS AND PRAISE
THESE ARE THE THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY TO PRACTICE FOR THE FUTURE YOU WANT TO HAVE…when you get to May and look back.
Love,
Mrs. Roberson
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