A Letter to the Generations

To the generation who went before me

Thank you. 

Thank you for the hurts and pains and joys that you walked through and that you would allow me to learn from you 

Thank you. 

Thank you for being patient with me while I figure this whole “adult” thing out. A lot of times it feels like I am doing everything wrong and it really means a lot to me when you find ways to encourage me 

Thank you. 

Thank you for asking me what I think. Most of the time I feel like, since I am only 21, I don’t have anything to offer you, or anyone. I feel important and listened to when you ask me what I think, and when you listen intently. 

Thank you for the way you correct me. The way you gently, or not so gently when needed, help me readjust me trajectory to be on the straight and narrow path. 

Thank you for speaking life into me. Sometimes it feels like 20 is that weird age where you are worthy to receive and you aren't qualified to give life. I feel validated and seen when you speak truth and life into me. It makes me feel so loved. As hard as it is to articulate sometimes, it means more than the world to me when you stop what you are doing, put your own life on pause to speak life into me. That shows me that I am worthy to receive. 

Thank you. 

Thank you for giving me a chance. For trusting me with things you knew I would fail at. Thank you for letting me fail. Thank you for the love and grace that you showed over me when I expected nothing less than the opposite. You have given me a safe space to learn and to teach. To fail and to succeed. To rise up, and to fall on my face. You have cultivated with intention a place where I can figure me and God out. Where I can figure me and other people out. Where I can discover who Lilly really is, not who she thinks she needs to be

Thank you

Thank you, lastly, for the way you have prayed for me. I know that as you saw me walking on the wide path, you battled for me on your hands and knees. You spoke to God in a way that I didn’t know how to yet, you still do. Thank you for fighting a battle that is not against flesh and blood WITH me. You didn’t stand on the sidelines, you helped me put on my armor and you fought with me, blood, sweat and tears. You wept when I wept and you rejoiced when I rejoiced. You have shaped me. You have loved me. You have shown me through example how to love well and fight the good fight till the end. 

Thank you. I would not be who I am without you. 

And to the generation that comes after me. 

I want you to go so much further than I ever will, let my ceiling be your floor. I want you to do the things that I could never do, I want you to reach for the things I was too afraid to reach for. I want you to go deeper than I ever could. Most importantly, I want you to be who Jesus says you are. 

Mighty warrior, you have so much to give. God gave you a voice because he wants you to speak in his Holy Spirit. You also have ears, so listen. Not just to me. First to the Holy Spirit. Listen to the ones who go before you, the ones who walk beside you and the ones who come after you. You will have to fight in prayer 10 times harder than I ever will need to and my prayer for you is that as the prophecy of the end times comes closer, you seek Jesus and lead your generation into the arms of a loving Father, a perfect Father who is the lover of our souls. My prayer for you is that in all the ways I am shaken, you are sturdy in Christ. 

This life will be so hard, but so worth it. So fight the good fight. Don’t give up. Hang on to the only one who can hold the weight of the world. 

I am rooting for you, we all are. I am on your team and I can’t wait to see where Jesus takes you. 

You are so loved, so valued and so precious. 

Keep on praying. 

With oodles and noodles of love, 

Your southern gal-pal, Lil.

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