Sweet Reminders

The night before I boarded the plane to come to the Dominican, my friends threw me a huge going away party.  There were lots of tears, tons of smiles and lots of reminiscing.  Last semester I asked my friends to write me letters to take with me.  Anything God was teaching them, I wanted to know about it!  On the night of the party, my friend Ashleigh put out a hand painted box for my friends to fill with the letters.  Some wrote the letters throughout the semester, and others wrote them at the party.  Needless to say, they are all reminders that keep me running the race that is laid out before me.

I haven’t read all of them yet.  In fact, I haven’t read many. I want to have them when I need a little taste of home and some encouragement.  Some of them have specific dates for me to read them, and others are for specific days when I’m discouraged.

This is the first one I read:

I was pleasantly surprised when Michelle came to my party, as she probably had so many things she could have been doing with her husband that night, but she took the time to write me such an encouraging note.  It doesn’t say ‘maybe’ or ‘someday,’ but it says 'YOU WILL be a light.'  This is a reminder that when things get tough, the light is always near.

Next was a note from my friend Seth:

He’s one of the most creative people I know.  Such a fun way to remind me how much God loves me. Every.single.day!

Next was a note I found hidden in my suitcase from my roommate, Amy.

This was our memory verse one week last fall.  The Lord is ALWAYS on my side!

This one is from my worship pastor, Michael:

It is so important to remember to be COURAGEOUS everyday. God always keeps his promises! What I loved most about this note, though, was that he added lyrics to one of my favorite songs.  “He’s been, so good, so so good to me!” God has been good to me and has blessed me in so many different ways and I shall not forget it!  Click here to hear the song.

And lastly, the most recent letter I read was from one of my best friends, Jordin:

Sometimes it’s just easier to throw your hair in a pony-tail, put on a hoodie, a bit of deodorant, and head out the door!  I actually opened this on Monday, which happened to be the first day in 15 days that I was able to take a real shower.  We rarely have water in the tank on the roof, so we have to shower using buckets of water throughout the week.  It’s too comical that after I had taken my first real shower, I read this note.  (And yes, this note is above my bed to remind me daily!)

I can’t wait to read and put up more letters in the coming months!

Until later, my friends, much love to you from the Dominican Republic!