Dear 37-Year-Old Andrea

One week away from 37. There are a few things I want to tell myself as I prepare to leave my mid-30s to enter my late-30s...

Dear 37-Year-Old-Andrea,

A few years ago you wrote to 16-year-old Andrea in the past. But this one is for you, future 37-year-old Andrea. Just a little encouragement you might need to look back on this year.

Let's just start with the reality of where you're coming from. It's been a rough year. It seems like you say that every year, so it's a little embarrassing to say it again. But go ahead and own it. It was hard. You were depressed--literally. It didn't feel like there was any hope of positive change in you or around you for awhile. Hiding seemed to be the only way through at times.

But by God's grace, a few months of counseling, a lot of thinking, and a lot of prayers and encouragement of a few people around you when you felt like you had nothing to give, that buried hope sprouted and has been slowly, carefully inching its way toward the light.

That hope and renewed faith might still feel a little foreign to you, maybe even dangerous or slightly terrifying. But you're not pinning your hopes on a person or everything going your way. This hope comes from believing and seeing that God is still speaking when He seemed silent, still active when He seemed motionless, still caring when you couldn't feel it.  It comes from the little-but-powerful reminders that He still loves you, whether you feel like you nailed it or failed it. Whatever you do this year, nurture that hope.

And now, just a little collection of wise reminders you've been learning in the last few years:

• Let your most important goal of the day be growing closer to Jesus. 
• Keep asking God to open your ears to hear Him, and your mouth to tell what He's done. 
• Look for what's beautiful in every picture.
• Expect God to work things out in unexpected ways. 
• Remember that God is in ultimate control, not humans (even if they think they are).
• The best way to get a message to someone's heart is not talking to them, but taking that message to God, and letting Him put it in their heart.
• Really believe that Jesus loves you and is working all things for good as you trust Him.
• Let people in--safe people.
• Let people out--when it's time to let go.
• Whether they are coming or going in your life, love people for who they are, not just for who they are to you.
• Trust God with your future. Don't try to write your story before He does. Let Him unfold your future one day, one story at a time. 
• Stay on mission no matter the setting. Stay available to the Spirit, and let Him fill and lead you to people you otherwise would not meet.
• Let kindness override fear.
• Value vulnerability in others--and yourself.
• Whatever is going on in the world, be ready to respond with hope.
• Love anyway.

You've been on the path of change for awhile, but it's likely you may feel it more dramatically as things fall into place the way God has been orchestrating. Change is scary, but it's how you grow, and it's how God blesses. Let Him bless you. Let Him heal you. Let Him transform you. Whatever that looks like.

I'll close this somewhat random open letter with a reminder that as a believer in the eternal gift God has given you through Jesus Christ, there is no such thing as getting old. You're advancing through time, but there are endless millennia ahead of you. So don't worry if life hasn't given you everything you thought you should have by 37 or even 38. There's eternal bliss ahead. Keep that perspective when you're a little restless or feel the pain of not being there yet.

Here's to you, old friend! And here's to 37!

Love,

Andrea

"By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope." - Eph. 3:20 (NLT)