These are excerpts of a much longer letter that I wrote to one of my grandchildren before they were born, her name is Summer. I wish that I could say most of it to every child on earth…
Summer,
You are my fifth grandchild, and although your birth is still many weeks away, I keep thinking about you and praying for you. I know that when your birthday arrives you will not want to be born. That is ok, no one does; right now, you feel warm, and cozy, and safe, but you will be forced from your mothers’ body into a bright cold place, and you will be scared.
I wish I had some way to tell you how blessed your life will be, so that you would not be afraid. I want to tell you so many things; because if you could only know what I know, then you would be eager to get to this place and get started on this walk we call life.
I know that you will be beautiful, and wise, and strong, because that is what your mother is. I know that you will be grounded, and faithful, and kind, because that is what your father is. So, you see, my little one, you are already wonderful.
This place is glorious Summer, you are going to have so much fun here. You get to grow up in a big house that has a big pond, where you will fish with your grandfather. You will have lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, and they are all amazing. You are going to make so many friends in this place, you will never be lonely.
I wish that I had a way to tell you all the fun things you will do here! You will never get tired of learning, of doing, of being. Every day there will be wondrous things to discover; you will never stop growing and changing. You will learn how to read and write, and you will love good stories. You will run. You will giggle. Sometimes you will laugh until your face hurts. You get to eat candy (you will love Swedish fish and skittles). You will lay on the floor while a litter of puppies runs all over you and licks your face and bites your ears, but you will love it and you will not be able to stop laughing. You will learn how to drive a car, and all the freedom and responsibility that it comes with. You get to sit in the living room with your friends and cousins, with all the lights out and watch a great movie while eating popcorn. You are going to be a great friend to all your friends. You will learn how amazing it is to hug someone. You will ride a horse. You will fall in love. And someday, you will marry a prince. I know that you will be strong and brave, and that you will be able to run straight at anything.
I wish that I could tell you now all the things you need to know about this life. Things that take a lifetime to learn; things that some people never learn:
That happiness is a choice, and that love is a decision. That almost everyone you will meet in this place wants to help you, not hurt you, so you do not have to fear them. Love easily, forgive quickly and never hold a grudge. You need to know that working hard feels good, and if you work hard this world will throw money at you. You need to know that giving that money away is far more satisfying than keeping it. That the opposite of love is not hate; the opposite of love is selfishness. You need to always be honest and transparent with people, wear your heart on your sleeve, because the secret to life is to have no secrets. You need to know that you can take your time; do not rush, do not fret, your life is forever so you can take time to enjoy things for their own sake.
But most importantly you need to know this; that your life is not a test. You do not have to prove yourself to anyone; because you already have the approval and affection of your grandfather and, more importantly, of your heavenly Father. You cannot lose either one. So, you are free to enjoy this life little girl, because someone else has already passed the test for you. His name is Jesus; I will tell you all about Him when you get here.
Your mothers’ name is Grace, which is appropriate, because grace is what I offer you, the grace of God in a fallen world. Will there be trials and sadness for you here? Yes, I will never lie to you; but the blessings of this place far outweigh the pain. The blessings abound here Summer, and I want you to gather them up without shame and hold them close. I want you to bless the Giver every day, He put this world here for you baby. And even the gratitude and adoration that you render to him will not be for His benefit, but yours.
As you grow you may hear a lot of people complaining about this place; do not listen to them. Remember, happiness is a choice; a choice that many people do not make. You are going to be born into a world where the food that you need to survive grows out of the ground at your feet; and the water that you need to survive falls from the sky on your head. The grace of God in a fallen world.
So, every day that you are here, when you wake up and look out your window; I do not want you to see what other mortals see. I want you to see what the Hebrew poets saw; it is what set their pens to writing and their lips to singing when they said:
“Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O Lord, you preserve man and beast. How precious is your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.”
That is what I want for you. I want you to see with the eyes of faith what is truly there, not a cold and empty place, but a life warmed by the presence of God.
I wish I could tell you all these things so that you would not be afraid, but I cannot. Even if I could speak to you, you would not understand my words, not for many years. It seems to me that this must be how God feels when He wants to tell us the glorious things of the life to come. “Things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
But He cannot, we would not understand; because we, just like you in a way, are still waiting to be born. Even though “we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is,”
So, I will wait for you, just as He waits for us. For now, I will keep it simple, and just say to you the same thing that your Heavenly Father is saying to you right now…
I love you Summer
I cannot wait to meet you.
You are going to be amazing.