To the Woman that I Aspire to One Day Become

A letter to the woman that I aspire to one day become,

I pray you remember this period of your life with fondness.  As I am constantly reminded, I am sure you will remember me now as a part of the past where you exhibited great naivete and youth, tempered with an unusual amount of inner strength and wisdom.  I also pray that you do not recall this period with regret.

I pray you are not alone, that you are surrounded by family and friends, and that you never stopped writing, creating, or adding spice to the lives of all those around you.  I pray you are still bottled sunshine. 

I hope that you’ve published something.  I hope that you wrote a song that you performed in public.  I hope you finally painted that image from your dream.  I hope you have continued to hope.

I pray you've helped a stranger.  I pray you have made the world a better place.  I pray you have never caused anyone to love God less, and if you have, that you’ve gone to extreme lengths to make amends.  I pray that you learn to admit when you are wrong.  I pray that you still have not learned to tell a lie convincingly.  I pray you have acquired some level of humility. I pray you work hard and even if you get nowhere, you do so honorably in this life for the sake of the next.  

I pray you no longer have nightmares that make you too scared to sleep.  I pray you have learned to sleep with the door open.  I pray you’ve learned to take care of yourself, even when there is one more thing you need to do first. 

I hope you found someone who will love you for everything that you are and adores everything about you that you will never be.  I hope you have someone who completes you and who makes you a better person and who every day reminds you how very special you are, in a good way.  I pray you do the same and more for him.  I pray you and he work night and day to get each other to heaven, kicking and screaming as that may be. 

More than anything I pray that we are still following God as the only beacon in this world of dimly lit candles.  I pray that you have made yourself as small as possible so that the Holy Spirit can shine through you.  I pray you are a light. 

And if nothing else, my dear future self, I pray that you have never ceased to pray. 

May God grant you wisdom and peace.  May God never let you cease to learn.  May God be with you. 

-Gabrielle