The 12 Days of Love Letter Writing

Every Christmas my favorite organization, More Love Letters (MLL), organizes The 12 Days of Love Letter Writing. More Love Letters is a movement started by a friend of mine, Hannah Brencher. MLL works to shower people with love, even on days when they don’t feel deserving of it. During the 12 days of letter writing, my friends over at MLL pick twelve stories to highlight over the course of the campaign. While Christmas is a season of hope and joy, it can also be filled with feelings of loneliness and despair. Because of this, we get the opportunity to bring some love and light to people in need.

When Hannah asked me to share Anistazia’s story on my blog, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Anistazia is an amazing woman who deserves to recieve some of the love that she has spent her life giving to others.

 

Anistazia’s friend writes, “Anistazia had a once in a lifetime romance. She was a slave in Germany during WWII and after immigrating to America she married her childhood sweetheart. They kept their vow of “until death do us part” but when he died a part of her did as well. Since his passing she had to enter an assisted living home but she still “chooses to find the beauty in everyday and shares that beauty with everyone she meets.” Let’s give Anistazia all the love she’s given to others over the years.

 

I decided to post my letter to Anistazia here on my blog, because I think the themes of her life are relatable to many of ours as well, but of course I’m sending her the snail mail, too.

 

Dear Anistazia, 

I know that I have never had the privilege of meeting you, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want the best things for you. I am so inspired by you and all that you have overcome. 

A good friend told me that there are three universal love languages, and I agree. They are patience, kindness, and availability. The way that you live your life exhibits all three, my friend. I don’t even know you, but from reading your story, I can tell that you have the gift of making the people around you feel seen, known, and cared for. Never underestimate the importance of that. 

Fight every single day to be amazed by the world around you. Take it all in. Look for the little victories, and celebrate them fiercely. Find miracles in the mundane. I’m cheering you on, Anistazia.

Lots of love, Anna Kate

 

I really hope that you’ll get involved and send this sweet lady a letter, too. Let’s come together to show Anastazia how much we care. If you want to send a letter, please send it to the address below and use the hashtag #12daysMLL if you post it to social media.

Anistazia’s bundle

℅ Taylor L.

P.O. Box 32

Koppel, PA 16136

USA

Lastly, I would really encourage you to check out More Love Letters at http://www.moreloveletters.com or on social media @moreloveletters. We think that snail mail should never go out of style, and we want your cursive year round!

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the City

You looked at me with your sad, yet hopeful eyes, and said “I remember you! You really did come back for us.” You broke my heart and gave me purpose with just a few words. For me, it started as a normal Saturday morning. It did for you too, but our ideas of normal are vastly different. To me, normal is a pretty house in the suburbs. It is coffee, more food than I know what to do with, and a room to call my own. For you, normal is waking up in a cubicle. It’s sharing everything you have with the other 99 people who live in the shelter too. It’s a lack of consistency and having seen more pain in your 9 years than I’ve seen in my 17. 
We were there for the street ministry, so I had to leave you, but my mind wandered back to you all day. As we walked the streets of Atlanta, I wondered what would have happened if you wouldn’t have been rescued. I wanted them to know that there was something better than what they were living in, too. There is hope amidst the hopelessness and light in the darkness. It’s not too late. 
As we prayed with people in the neighborhoods of the city, they shared their brokenness with us. They were vulnerable and real. It’s amazing what happens when the filters are stripped away and followers or likes aren’t occupying our thoughts. We break down the walls and relate to each other in a way we never thought possible. 
“Pray for my addiction.” 

“I just want to know that my kids are okay.”

“I want my wife to make it through the winter.”

“Ask God to show me that He’s real.” 

“I need a job. And better health. And for some way to pay the bills.”

“Cancer is taking over my body and I’m fighting but nothing can stop it.” 
These were the prayers we prayed. Vulnerable, honest, and often heartbreaking. But I’ve found that the bold prayers are the best. When we go to God totally lost and ready to surrender all that we are for all that He is, a kind of miracle happens.
So tonight, as I lay here, I think of you and I think of them. But above all, I think of what brings us together. We are all broken. We are all messy and we are all trying. And at the end of the day, we all have hope that carries us tomorrow. Who we were today is not who we have to be tomorrow. The story is not over yet, and maybe it’s just beginning. 

From Finding Yourself to Becoming Yourself

Finding yourself is the time of searching. It’s knowing that you have dreams, passions, fears, and purpose, but still being unsure of what that means for you. It’s trying new things. Talking to people who are different than you. Finding someone to look up to. It’s being that person for someone else. It is figuring out what it is that makes your heart burn. It’s deciding if you want to be comfortable, or if you long for adventure instead. You can let it be a time of loneliness, when you don’t quite feel like you belong anywhere. Or, it can be a time of building community, where a group of people acknowledges that we don’t know where life will take us, but we all want to do the best that we can, and devote everything inside of us to leaving this world better than we found it. I hope we become fluent in choosing the second. 
When you become yourself, you step into what ever it is that you found. I think that becoming yourself is a time of devotion. After finding the things that make you feel alive, becoming yourself is the act of devoting everything that you are to those causes. 
Finding yourself is collecting pieces of a puzzle, and becoming yourself is sitting down long enough fit the pieces of the puzzle together and make something beautiful. 

All in a Year’s Time

If you would have told me that my life would have looked like it does now this time last year, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.
In January, I decided that resolutions were stupid. Why do we need a new calendar year to decide that we could be something better than we were yesterday? Where is the grace in that? I understand needing a new start or a clean slate, but isn’t every single day a blank canvas? I decided that my “resolution” was going to be this: Don’t be stagnant and always be moving forward. If you aren’t intentionally increasing, you’re unintentionally decreasing. So instead of having a lofty goal that was never fully attainable, I adopted a way of life. And no matter how many times I fail, I remind myself of the grace that keeps me going. I can be better than I was yesterday.
March taught me sometimes life feels dark. And you have to fight to see the light. Circumstances aren’t always great. Sometimes people fail you. Everything around you may give way. But His love for me was constant. His light is always shining and His love always ready to take me in.
In June, I took a trip that changed my life. I think that sometimes you have to get on a plane and let another culture redefine your ideas and the things that you say you believe. I went to Costa Rica and learned more about God, other people, and myself. At the core, we all just want to be loved and accepted. We don’t need money, influence, or followers to make a difference. We just need to say “yes” and let God use us in whatever way He chooses.
July and August came, and I started claiming that I couldn’t hear God. I felt like He was distant. I was asking questions without getting answers. I was trying to find Him but didn’t see Him anywhere. I claimed He wasn’t moving. I felt forgotten. But then I learned that He had been there all along. He was holding me the whole time. Even when I can’t feel it, He is working on my behalf. The more I seek Him, the more I find Him. He wasn’t the one hiding, it was me.
September and October showed me that people come and go. Sometimes the going hurts a lot. But even when it hurts, every relationship and trial is purposed. And with that mindset, I can be grateful no matter the circumstances.
Looking back over the year, I’ve been broken but put back together. I’ve been molded and stretched, but it’s all to become something more beautiful. Light shines out of the cracks. I fully believe that our brokenness can be a testament to His grace when we are willing to surrender all that we are to all that He wants us to be. And with that hope, I can keep going no matter what life throws my way, because I have a God who has the final say.

Seasons

I’ve always been that girl who gets a little too excited with the coming of each new season. My excitement used to come from the little things like leaves changing or flowers blooming. But as time goes on, seasons have started to mean something different to me. Seasons are something metaphorical now, that serve as a reminder of undeniable hope. 
Like seasons on a calendar, we too have seasons in our lives. Some are filled with heartbreak. We’ll feel like happiness is something unattainable and we’ll never be more than barely okay. Some seasons of life are prosperous, and we’ll flourish where we are rooted. Sometimes there are droughts and sometimes the rain is plentiful. At times, we’ll feel cold and alone, and then there will be seasons where community runs deep and we are surrounded by our cheerleaders. Some seasons will stick around longer than we’d like, and their effects will show up even as time moves on. At times we’ll wish that some seasons could have lasted longer than they did. 
But no matter how much praying or begging we do, seasons will come and go. Through watching the cycle of a calendar year, we notice the cycle of our lives, too. There will undoubtedly be hard times, but we can rest knowing that the good times will come again. Seasons don’t last forever. They grow us, they change us, and then come again to teach us something new. 

Noise

My normally quiet coffee shop is anything but quiet today. Maybe it’s the buzz that always comes with a new season. Maybe the sun and the blue skies serve as an invitation to get out and face the world even if it would be easier to stay in bed. 

It’s loud here. I’m surrounded by people in all stages of life. A little boy who is perfectly content with seeing how many chocolate chips he can pick out of his muffin. His grandpa who is content with watching him do just that. But for everyone here, whether young or old, quiet or loud, there seems to be a common theme surrounding us all… “Pick me. Choose me. See me. Make me feel like I matter to you.”

But isn’t that what we all crave? We all just want to know that it would be different without us. If we didn’t show up- someone would notice. And more than that- someone would miss us. But it’s more comfortable not to go there. That opens up a door to rejection, so we don’t talk about it. We carry on, ignoring the question that lingers like an elephant in the room, and we remain hopeful that we do matter. 

So even when the people around you don’t say this, know it is true- you matter and you always will. You’re needed. This space that you’re standing in would not be the same without you in it. You have impact which runs deeper than you know. You are adored. You need people, and people need you. You are always worth fighting for. You aren’t something to be sorry for. You are okay. You are enough. Always hold on to that.

Answers

The more time that goes on, the more I realize how few answers I really have. But I think I’m okay with that. Maybe I don’t need to know the answers. This is life. And some of us pretend like we have it figured out but truly none of us do. We don’t know the end results of most things. But isn’t that okay? And even more than okay, isn’t that kind of beautiful? The fact that life is just one, big, spontaneous dance. And we don’t know the next step, but at the end of it all, we can look back and see the story that was written with our lives. I think that’s all I need to know, that every part of life, while crazy and filled with chaos, is meaningful. And that these ashes will always end with something beautiful.  

Mountaintops

Sometimes, God calls us to the mountaintops and things get real because instead of just singing about those places, you really have to go there. Sometimes, he calls us to the places that we’d rather not go, but we can say yes knowing that He goes along with us. Seasons change. Callings change. I change. Jesus never changes. He is good where I can’t find good. He lights my path with the kind of light to keep me going, while still realizing my dependency on him. He teaches me how to illuminate that which has been in the dark. He shows me what it looks like to live a life of surrender. He tells me that it’s okay to come out of hiding. 
Sometimes, He comes like fire. A fire that has to be let out. A fire that looks like love and passion. A fire that burns up apprehension and hesitation. Sometimes, he comes like the rain, cleansing me and making me new. Covering me in grace for the days to come. At times I walk with confidence and at times I fall backwards- yet I never fall so far that He isn’t there to catch me. 
Then I realize that surrender to Him is to rest in safety. To give up control is to gain freedom. To follow even the hardest of callings is to receive the greatest of blessings, and that this life is ultimately a journey to the mountaintops with Him.

Compass

Maybe the future is overrated. 

Where are we going, and why are we trying to get there so quickly? Maybe it’s not about the future. Maybe it’s about right now. 

Look up, girl. There are so many hearts around you just waiting to be loved. longing to be seen. aching to be known. Let them build you. Collect their stories. Keep a piece of them with you when the road gets long. and the night gets dark. and the air gets cold. 

Step outside of yourself, darling. Maybe then you will see that it’s not about the final destination, but rather the road that brought you there. Was your heart your compass? Did you love people well? Did you fight for them? Did you find the gold you were always searching for? 

I hope you did. I hope your heart and your hands were always full of gold.

Missing

My life used to be a system revolving around a fear that ran deeply in my heart. I was motivated by the fear of missing it.

I still don’t know exactly what it is, but I know one thing… I’m not afraid of it any longer.

I was consumed with the fear of missing out on life. I was afraid that I would give the beauty of today in exchange for the hopes of tomorrow. I was the kind of girl who would rather analyze my dreams than stare my present circumstances in the eyes.

I used to wonder how this could matter. How could my day-to-day life make an impact? How could it change the things? Was I in the right place? As a girl who was born with the desire to do big things, these questions have played on repeat in my mind for the majority of my existence.

Now I know, this right here is going to be a foundation. This is it. The future may be beautiful, but so is the present. I don’t want to waste everything that’s in front of me because I can’t find enough time to slow down.

If I never stop long enough to look up at the beauty in the life around me, I won’t realize what I have until it’s something of the past. 

Now , I am searching. I am watching. I am learning. Life is like a book, with different chapters, yet not one is better than the others. Some chapters are hard. Some hurt. Some are dark. Some are hopeful. Some are easy. Some are beautiful. 

My life is not one chapter, but many. I am learning to embrace the process, as He is transforming me from a girl who lived only in the future, to a girl who loves and lives it all.