A college student wrote a letter to her parents that said this:
Dear Mom and Dad,
As the end of the semester draws near and all the tests have been submitted and graded, I write to share with you that I have quit school. In fact, I did not attend a class this semester. I moved out of the dorms months ago to live with my 35-year-old boyfriend.
I know this may trouble you, since I am only 19 years old and he is 35, but I have come to believe that age is nothing but a number and we are madly in love with one another. We plan to live free of the constraints of this suffocating society by purchasing a used RV to travel the country.
I know this may be quite shocking to you, but I’m feeling good about my decision, and I’m hoping that we will have children; he says he wants to start a family soon and I think I am ready.
I will pay you back for the money you spent for my education in time, when things get better for us, but please for now be happy for me. Know that I love you and miss you and hope to see you soon.
Signed,
Your Daughter.
PS. All that you just read is not true. I have not quit school, and I do not have a boyfriend at all, plus my grades, while not exceptional, are not too bad. I wanted you to see that things could be worse when you do see my grades. I wanted you to keep things in proper perspective. I love you!
As we look to the New Year of 2024, that is the word I want to leave with you; keep things in proper perspective.
Remember that everything in 2023 was not bad or detrimental to you, there were great moments in 2023, cherish them.
There were people who loved on you. There were precious moments that you shared with others, and there were times that you did feel real good about yourself; remember those moments fondly.
And remember that things really could have been a whole lot worse.
One of my late mentors, Reverend William J. Vance, used to tell me this often, “John, always remember that there is nothing so bad that it could not be worse,” and those words have put steel in my back.
In 2024 remember that each day you have life is a day full of opportunities just waiting for you to take advantage of them.
The hymn writer penned these words, “morning by morning new mercies I see, Great is thy faithfulness O Lord unto me.”
Finally, to keep things in proper perspective, remember the words of Spoken Word artist Rudy Francisco who says, “Muscle is created by repeatedly lifting things that are designed to weigh us down, so when your shoulders feel heavy, stand up straight, lift your chin and call it exercise.
The human heart [says Rudy] beats approximately four thousand times per hour, and each pulse, each throb, each palpitation is a trophy engraved with the words, you are still here.”
Beloved, the greatest testimony you have is that you are still here because if you were not here then nothing else matters.
You, beloved, are enough. In fact, you are more than enough. In Psalm 8 of the holy text, the writer says, “What are mortals that you [God] are mindful of them, that you visit them? You have made mortals a little lower than God.”
In many of your translations, it may read, “A little lower than angels,” but the original Hebrew translation says, “A little lower than God…” Beloved, you are more than enough for whatever comes your way in 2024.
Therefore, please purpose in your soul in 2024 to strive each day that you are blessed to be alive that you will present to the world the best version of yourself because you are the crown of creation and the apple of God’s eye.
Keep things in proper perspective because nothing is so bad that it couldn’t be worse, and the fact that you are still here makes all the difference in the world.
There is Divine Destiny within each of you, Beloved, and I pray that you hitch your trailer of life to that Divine Destiny and allow it to take you to elevated heights of deeper insights and breathtaking wonders this life has to offer to you.
I leave you with the words of Howard Thurman, who says, “There is something in each and every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide that you will ever have, and if you are unable to hear it, you spend all your days at the ends of strings that someone else pulls,”it is the genuine in you!
I wish each of you a Joyous New Year on this journey of life.
