Dear Grace,
First of all, I want to say that I love you. You are a beautiful, strong, loving girl who is swiftly growing up. I admire your tenacity, encourage your spirit, and am blessed by your heart. The way you care for your family is beautiful and the depth of your love is apparent for all to see. You are a hard-worker, diligent, and just a little bit stubborn. I love the freckles on your nose and the way you dance and how you like to do search-and-finds and crosswords. You are a smart, pretty, talented, kind girl, who I love very much.
But this world is cruel. There will come a day when you will feel dissatisfaction. How I wish that there was something I could do to stop it from ever hurting your heart! You will look in the mirror and wish to be thinner, wish to be curvier, wish to have a straighter nose, wish to have thicker hair, wish to have bluer eyes, wish to have less freckles, wish to be taller, wish to be shorter, wish to have a smaller jaw, wish to have thicker brows, wish for this wish for that, wish.
I want to tell you to stop. Words that hurt me are words that say, you are fat, or you are ugly, or you are not worth it. Words that hurt me are words that tell you that you are not good enough, that you are not smart enough, that you are not talented enough. Words that hurt me are words that say you are not enough.
I wish desperately that I had been a better example to you. I'm praying that I daily would be. I don't want to let self-doubt percolate down to you. I want you to avoid being concerned about weight and your face and whatever. I want you to know deeply, truly, and passionately that your worth is not in your weight, hair, height, talents, intellect, possessions, popularity, wealth -- that your worth is in Jesus. Your identity is in Jesus. He says you are beautiful. Every hair on your head he knows, every freckle dappling your face are marks of His fingerprints.
Gracie girl, I don't want you to ever let anyone squash your dreams or quench your spirit. I love the way you love the Lord and desire to know Him deeply. Let that be your driving force. Words that hurt me are words that put you in a box and tell you that your only value is in the things of this world. That is a lie and I don't want you to ever have to fall prey to those thoughts.
My sweet Grace, I am so blessed to be your sister. Please know intrinsically that your identity is in Christ. Please know deeply that you are loved with a love that surpasses all understanding. Please know that you are forgiven, loved, redeemed, precious, blessed, and made whole because of Jesus. Please know that your inner beauty matters more than your outer, and that a woman in love with the Lord has a beauty that the world cannot even hope to touch.
Words that hurt me are words that say you aren't enough. But you ARE enough -- because of Jesus. Cling to that when life gets hard and your heart gets hurt and you feel as if you can't go on for whatever reason. He is enough, and He has said that you are enough because you are His.
I love you so much.
Hannah
Beautiful post.. Very sweet. :)
ReplyDeleteThat was so sweet. Beautiful words, Hannah!
ReplyDeleteand amen to that! this is priceless, hannah. i'm sure she'll treasure this for as long as she'll live.
ReplyDelete-jocee <3
{pea ess: american girl dolls? i love her already.}
so sweet and lovely :)
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful, Hannah. I've been feeling this way toward my own little sister, and desperately need to tell her something like this. Thank you for pushing me on.
ReplyDelete~ Mirriam
So incredibly sweet… Thank you for being an example of the kind of older sister we should be to our younger ones.
ReplyDelete~Aidyl
www.aidylewoh.blogspot.com
Hannah, reading this made me want to cry. It's so inspirational. I only have brothers (5 of them) but it still reminds me of the sister that I have to be to them. And plus, my mom's going to have a baby in September, so maybe I will have a little sister. :)
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that you are an incredible sister to your siblings. May God keep blessing your family :)
Abbie /// XOXOX
What about Chloe???
ReplyDeleteYour heart amazes me. You're doing a good job, hannah :)
ReplyDeleteah.. so beautiful Hannah! your writing really does send my heat pounding. and this is so true, and such a good reminder that how we act affects our siblings and friends. thanks for this friend.
ReplyDeleteSo so good. If all sisters strove to be this way, I think the world would be a better place and the families would be stronger. You encourage me with your posts Hannah! Thank you! :)
ReplyDeleteThat was very beautiful, sweet, priceless. I think you are a wonderful big sister to your little sis.
ReplyDeleteThis is simply beautiful Hannah. She is so blessed to have to have a bigger sister such a yourself, with a heart filled with gold.
ReplyDeleteWowie, girl - I know this sounds cliche, but this truly was beautiful writing. You are the epitome of a wonderful, mature and Godly example to sweet Grace...definitely a good role model! Honestly, this letter to Grace really encouraged me as well. I look in the mirror every morning and see a girl with a blemished face, bruised legs, and messy hair. In a nutshell, there are so many things that I wish were different about me. I am always wishing to be more -- perfect, I guess you could say.
ReplyDeleteSo thank YOU for writing this letter because it was inspiring, encouraging, and positive.
Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI read your blog now for some time and each time you writing touches me. One could never say how young you are with this depth of thinking and great sense of storytelling. And your sister is a very lucky girl to have such sister and friend. Thanks for being such an inspiration esepecially with all these great photos.
ReplyDeleteI was gonna tell you how beautiful that was! But then... everyone else said that.
ReplyDeletesoo, what they said :)
<3
Spot on, Hannah. :) Thank you for the reminder of what true beauty is.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post :)
ReplyDeletehow beautiful, hannah. if i could write a letter to my sister as beautiful as this, i know she would believe it.
ReplyDeletexo,
j
This is so beautiful, Hannah. So raw, and so true. So precious.
ReplyDeletexo.
Lovely!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, and I think you are a really good example for your sister :) xx
ReplyDeleteWow. Beautiful post. :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful :)
ReplyDeleteoh my. i know this was for your little sister, but i think God meant it for me too. thank you so much, hannah...this is a lesson He has been teaching me for a long time, and this post helped so much. xo.
ReplyDeleteSuch a heartfelt letter; your posts never cease to amaze me. :)
ReplyDeletegirl, i'm pretty certain you ARE a beautiful example to precious Grace!
ReplyDeleteLovely post.
ReplyDeletexo
Beautiful letter to your little sister! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. <3
ReplyDeleteI have four little siblings, and sometimes I get mad at them, but I admire the way you love them so much =)
ReplyDelete~Molly~
You have a beautiful heart Hannah. What a beautiful post.
ReplyDeleteYou are such a great older sister, Hannah. <3 This was darling.
ReplyDeletehugs,
~bree
What a beautiful post Hannah! It brings tears to my eyes. You are a great sister. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI have been following your blog for a few months now, through a really difficult period in my life. Just quietly, God feels very far away. On the difficult days, it is so touching to read of the small beauties you capture in your thoughts and photos.
Yesterday was particularly hard, until I came across a blog challenging people to try something new and frightening every day. To start living. To face the rejection and fear, and do it anyway.
So I thought I would reach out today, send my words across the ocean, and see if I could make a connection. I would love to talk to you about your faith sometime. It seems to have so much strength behind it.
This post was so lovely and refreshing. Thank you so much for sharing.
Michelle
This is so beautiful Hannah! she is so blessed to have a sister like you. :) I want to strive everyday to be a Christ-like example to my younger sisters and this really encouraged me!
ReplyDeleteAww. You're a sweet older sister. Oftenly, I have fights with my sibs especially my twin. My day never end without having arguments with her. I don't know why but I want to treat her just like the way you treat your sister. Thanks for this. A blessed post. :)
ReplyDeleteand what a beautifully written letter(:
ReplyDelete