As I wipe my eyes and shout Amen to this...all of this! God’s plan has been infinitely better than anything my 20 yr old self had planned. Easier - no - but so so good. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I put off a mental health counseling degree to raise 5 children. At age 55 I went back to school and I am now using the gifts God has given me in a new way as a counselor and also as a wife, mom, and grandma. The Lord is faithful! The hard parts and the suffering are part of His whole amazing plan.
Also crying. But good crying. I took a leave from my Ph.D. program in 2020 after my first was born. Three years, two more babies, and I’m starting to think about going back to finish, but have no idea what that would look like. This letter came at the perfect time. Thank you for sharing your gift and heart with us!
Thank you for this! It really felt like you were speaking right to me with this one, and it was such a blessing to read your perspective. Prayers for you and your family.
This is so good, and also something I struggle with. Marriage and babies have always been my dream. I couldn't care less about my career. Marriage took longer than I hoped, and now we've experienced infertility from the start. In a very different way than all the physical mothers out there, God is calling me to the deepest sacrifice of my dreams that I could have imagined. Funny how our lives can be so different, but our sacrifices and suffering can have great similarity. Like many people, I would have chosen a different cross. But holiness is the ultimate dream, like you said. I need to remind myself of that when my heart is breaking with the weight of this.
Thank you for writing this piece, Emily. I love this as a letter to your younger self. As a woman whose career was going at mach speed, when I married & had a child "later" (late 30s), my perspective has been similar. It's really refreshing to read what you say here... and just plain reassuring. I think some co-workers, management didn't understand that I chose not to go back into the corporate fray, full-tilt.
The Holy Spirit is surely moving among us, as evidently shown in your life, Emily, and in this piece you’ve shared, and evident in each of these responses you’ve received to your words! I, too, was brought to tears as this letter was much needed today. God’s timing is indeed always perfect.
"If there is peace in the pause or the change, follow the peace" - amen! I love this, and I loved Letters to Myself, please publish more of the letters that didn't make the book!
Emily, thank you. Your voice shines through all the noise of our time, both inside and outside the Church. I love how you always point us higher to God’s will for our lives. Amen amen amen.
Thank you! Thank you so much! Like others here, this is exactly what I needed to hear in this season while preparing for the arrival of our first baby and trying hard to listen to God's voice instead of the world's assumptions.
As I wipe my eyes and shout Amen to this...all of this! God’s plan has been infinitely better than anything my 20 yr old self had planned. Easier - no - but so so good. Thank you for sharing!
Amen, sister. Thank you for writing this <3
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I put off a mental health counseling degree to raise 5 children. At age 55 I went back to school and I am now using the gifts God has given me in a new way as a counselor and also as a wife, mom, and grandma. The Lord is faithful! The hard parts and the suffering are part of His whole amazing plan.
Thank you for sharing this reflection emily
Also crying. But good crying. I took a leave from my Ph.D. program in 2020 after my first was born. Three years, two more babies, and I’m starting to think about going back to finish, but have no idea what that would look like. This letter came at the perfect time. Thank you for sharing your gift and heart with us!
Thank you for this! It really felt like you were speaking right to me with this one, and it was such a blessing to read your perspective. Prayers for you and your family.
This is so good, and also something I struggle with. Marriage and babies have always been my dream. I couldn't care less about my career. Marriage took longer than I hoped, and now we've experienced infertility from the start. In a very different way than all the physical mothers out there, God is calling me to the deepest sacrifice of my dreams that I could have imagined. Funny how our lives can be so different, but our sacrifices and suffering can have great similarity. Like many people, I would have chosen a different cross. But holiness is the ultimate dream, like you said. I need to remind myself of that when my heart is breaking with the weight of this.
Thank you for writing this piece, Emily. I love this as a letter to your younger self. As a woman whose career was going at mach speed, when I married & had a child "later" (late 30s), my perspective has been similar. It's really refreshing to read what you say here... and just plain reassuring. I think some co-workers, management didn't understand that I chose not to go back into the corporate fray, full-tilt.
The Holy Spirit is surely moving among us, as evidently shown in your life, Emily, and in this piece you’ve shared, and evident in each of these responses you’ve received to your words! I, too, was brought to tears as this letter was much needed today. God’s timing is indeed always perfect.
"If there is peace in the pause or the change, follow the peace" - amen! I love this, and I loved Letters to Myself, please publish more of the letters that didn't make the book!
Emily, thank you. Your voice shines through all the noise of our time, both inside and outside the Church. I love how you always point us higher to God’s will for our lives. Amen amen amen.
This is my favorite piece of your writing. True, faithful, wise. Thank you 🙏🏻
Thank you! Thank you so much! Like others here, this is exactly what I needed to hear in this season while preparing for the arrival of our first baby and trying hard to listen to God's voice instead of the world's assumptions.