Dear Grace,

You’ve finally made it through the seemingly relentless dark and oppressive tunnel. You are on the other side. You are in the light. There may be another tunnel up ahead that you can’t see yet, but stay on this path. Don’t detour because of the possibility of another tunnel.

I’m proud of you. You’ve fought. You’ve conquered. And, you’ve gained experience for the future.

No, your life has not been perfect. You’ve been believing and living lies for far too long. But that has ended. You are now aware of the lies being fed to you, but you are not believing them, and you are no longer living them.

You have learned your weaknesses and the areas where you need to be even more on guard, because the devil is prowling around waiting for you to become unaware so he can devour you. Stand firm. You are strong.

God, in His great mercy, has brought you to the end of yourself. He gave you the opportunity to take off everything that was old and disgusting. And you did. You allowed Him to clean you and renew you and reveal to you what was hiding underneath. And now He has clothed you in beautiful garments.  

Again, in His great mercy, He is now leading you away from the places of heartache and giving you a chance to start over. To apply everything you have learned in this period of dark tunnel dwelling.

As you go away from this place, don’t allow bitterness and anger to rise up in you. The past is very real and Satan would love to remind you of it. But the past is just that…something long gone. However, please never forget the past. Never forget what God brought you through and what He taught you. Remember the past but focus on what lies ahead.

From this day forth you are the new and improved Grace Noelle. The old Grace is gone. You are confident and you have an assurance in Him. You have a lot to offer to this world. Don’t hold back. Be who He made you to be. You are ready.

Sincerely,

The New Grace

Not-So Blank Wall

God has painted my wall in a way I would have never imagined. He has painted in the areas higher than I can reach. He has painted further to the left and the right. For now, I still only see a small portion in comparison to how large this wall really is. But He has painted enough for me to see the next step forward.

God is taking me to St. Petersburg, Florida. All the plans are not laid out in a perfect cookie-cutter way. (The old Grace would have bucked and jumped at the idea of loose ends being untied.) I do know that I’ll be living with my grandparents and going to school. But the rest is up to God. He’ll reveal the rest in His time. While I wait, I’ll continue to explore and discover more of who He made me to be.

I’m excited. I’m grateful. I’m blessed.

And I’m anticipating what lies ahead.