Dear you,

It’s been awhile, but I’m back and please know that I still have lots I want to tell you, not out of a highly knowledgeable mind, but out of a heart that is so desperately imperfect, only it wants to open the door and invite you into the presence of the Most Holy One. It’s about the Maker of this heart, not the heart itself. I’m only a student in the classroom of my God and guess what? You’re my classmate. We’re in this together.

And you know what? In my humanity, I entertained the thought of doing this post on an incredibly clever topic, with catchy examples and professor-like background study and a good choice of words to make up for the time that has been lost but then, God brought me back to my senses. That’s not really what He wants to hear. It’s probably not what you want to hear. And guess what? I’m not interested either. So let’s just be real, shall we? If you can’t support the idea of being honest and down to earth, well, stick with me anyways. Cause I could use your advice.

Look, I can’t even tell you that the reason for my nearly nonexistent appearance here is because I’ve been off galavanting across the globe, the country, or even my hometown doing many great things for the Lord. In all honesty, my relationship with God has kind of been shoved to the back burner for the time being. Priorities, people. Priorities. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have room for growth in this area. And we definitely receive benefit when we put God first. I know what it’s like to feel connected to God, and I also know what it’s like to feel disconnected. The latter leaves you feeling empty and isolated. Something I’ve also been learning through this: don’t make your time with God another thing on your to-do list. It just doesn’t belong there. Sure, it’s a lot to do with your priorities, but it should not be another one of those tasks to be checked off the list in order to wipe your slate and conscience clean.

When I am reading anything, I can literally read page after page, word for word, while thinking something not even remotely close to the same subject.  When that “not-so-skill” is applied to reading God’s word, you can imagine how fruitful that is. God’s Word is packed with nutrition and life and ready to be devoured, and snacking on it just won’t cut it.God’s got plans and words and answers and power and wisdom to share with us. But if we’re not listening and waiting, we’re gonna miss it. I want to stop missing it, don’t you? Just think of all that can happen when we give our undivided attention to God! That’s exactly why we find ourselves so easily distracted. Satan detests the very thought of it. So, who do we want as the winner?

Another thing, can anyone tell me what the secret is to being a highly successful, fully responsible, fearless adult full of much wisdom and, well…adultness??🤔 I know I know, that’s stretching it, but cheers to anyone else who feels like the years are flying by way too quickly and that the older you are expected to be, the younger you feel. Ugh. It reminds me of a comment a friend of mine made not that long ago when I said I did not know what I was doing in relation to a particular task. She emphatically stated, “Welcome to the adult world, Taralynn. Where everybody pretends to know what they’re doing, but nobody knows. Nobody.”

When you were little, did you ever hear one of those stories where something frightening is happening and the child is in utter despair but then along comes Father or Mother or any other adult figure and there’s that classic part of the story where it says, ”  ‘Don’t fear,’ said (Mother, Father, whoever), ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of.’ But inside, (Mother, Father, whoever) was trembling.” That was always a comfort to me (sarcasm injected). I was never so quick to believe an adult who said that ever again.

The truth is, though, that no matter how old we are, how much wisdom we store, or how many grey hairs we have, we are weak, dependent, and desperately in need of a higher power than we can attain ourselves, whether we like the idea or not.

Perhaps this growing up thing is related to the subject of change. But don’t even get me started. That’s a whole other post of its own.

This brings me to the end of my long-time-no-see letter to you, and maybe there’ll be more. If you have had enough of this stuff already, please notify me and I will resort to a more tolerable style of writing.

Also, if you have any advice, thoughts or questions about the subject of change, do share! I would love to take them into consideration.

Before you leave, though, I want you to consider this: whose standard of success are you taking most seriously? We were not made to be compared, and we all have a journey of our own, even though we travel together. I’ve had to remind myself to focus on the process and the progress. Even if it’s 2 steps forward, 1 step back , it’s still progress, no matter who you’re comparing it to. You’re going to fail sometimes, but God knows your thoughts and intentions and if He wouldn’t dream of giving up on you, then why should you? You are so totally worth it, my friend.

Sincerely,

Tara

P.S. If u come across any texting abbreviations in this post plz have mercy on me. I was writing it on my phone n tht always calls for such problems. Also, if u have recognized the irony of this P.S. statement, u have just reached a new level of success. Congrats, TTYL!