Dear Future Hannah,

I hope you are living the reality that I have worked so hard to gain for you.

I have been doing the hard work of healing, so that you can know what it’s like to be healed.

I am making meaningful connections with others so that you can enjoy community in the good times, and lean on them in the bad.

I am a student in the school of forgiveness so that you can be free from the chains that have bound me.

I am discovering who I am so that you will be confident in who you are.

I am nurturing my relationship with Jesus so one day we will see His sweet face.

I am asking myself the hard questions so that you can stand confidently in the truth.

I am finding my voice so that your voice can be a continuous roar.

I am learning to take care of my own needs so that you can be the healthiest version of us that you can be.

I’m acknowledging our inner child and learning to honor her and what she thought she had to do to keep us safe.

I’m learning how to let go of mindsets and beliefs that no longer serve me so you can live an abundant life.

I am planting the seed so you will bloom and bear fruit.

I am coming to love myself so that you can love yourself.

I am mourning what I have lost while simultaneously finding joy in what we still have.

I am honoring the past while at the same time looking forward to the future.

I am being pruned by the Master Gardener so that we can grow.

I am hurting and healing,

Bending and breaking,

Loving and aching,

Laughing and Crying,

Remaining and Transforming,

Listening and Observing,

Coming and Going,

Maturing and Growing.

Lest you think your life will be perpetual bliss, I want to warn you that you’ll have your own share of trials and tribulations to face.

See this thing called life is a wild ride with many twists and turns, and ups and downs.

It is both messy and beautiful.

Try to live in the moment.

And when times are tough I hope you fight for the future version of you just as hard as I’ve fought to make this possibility a reality, to get you to where you are.

I hope your love will be something fierce

That you will realize that you make this world a better, brighter place.

That you will continue to try and mend hearts that you did not break.

That you will understand that deep grief and incredible grace can coexist.

That you would not dwell on all the work you still need to do, but that you would remember all that you have already overcome

And sweet girl if there is anything that I wish for you and your heart and your future it’s this:

That you would trust God with them.

And that you would feel comfortable to be authentically and unapologetically you

That you would celebrate how fearfully and wonderfully 1 you are made.

Good luck. Know that I will always be rooting for you.

With love,