Heart Choices: A Letter to My Younger Self: What I Know Now -->

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A Letter to My Younger Self: What I Know Now


What I know now.

Have you ever wished you could go back and tell your younger self things you've learned along the way?

Bonnie of Faith Barista gave to us a challenge in our Faith Barista Jam for this week.

Write a letter to yourself at an earlier time in your life. Share what you know now about the faith journey with your younger self. Your younger self can be any age you feel prompted to address. e.g. “Dear Jane, ….”.
When I was seven years old I had open heart surgery to repair a congenital heart defect.  This was back in 1960 before the current surgical techniques.



Dear Debbie,

I know you are scared.  That boy in your class ran up and told you that his mom said you were going to die.  But remember how Mom talked with you and comforted you?  You will come through the operation fine and be better than before.  You won't have to ride that special needs bus anymore.  You'll be able to walk to school with the other children.  You won't have to feel so alone.

God has a plan for your life.  

When you invited Jesus into your heart you became His child forever.  Mrs. Anderson explained what that meant but it will take time to understand.  Everything that happens to you will be used for good.

God sees the times when you were counting the hours in the Intensive Care Unit, waiting for the next needle sticks, trying not to cry, wanting to be brave.  As you were lying in the oxygen tent with tubes connected to your little body, He heard the cry of your heart as you longed for Mom to be able to hold you.  That cry won't be wasted.

In the years to come when you grow up and become a heart nurse, you will have a tender heart for your patients.  After all, you know what it's like to experience heart surgery and to be scared.  You will show the families how they can still touch their loved one despite all the tubes in the ICU.  You will try to teach and comfort with love and kindness.

Just trust God.  He can be counted on.  You don't have to try to make everything OK for everyone.  After all, you're only seven years old.  It's OK to cry once in a while.  You don't have to hold it all in so you won't upset anyone.  God sees your heart and your tears.  And He loves you and cares about you.

Nothing is wasted.  God will use this experience for good.  You can count on that Debbie.

Blessings and love,

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Debbie Petras
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11 comments:

  1. Debbie, beautiful. This was so touching. I love what yor teacher share with you and how you remebered it! Thanks for sharing your heart- you bless me!

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  2. What a brave little girl you must have been! Thank you for allowing God to use you now to speak to others.
    Blessings,
    Laura

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  3. "Everything that happens to you will be used for good."

    "Nothing is wasted."

    You are a living, breathing testimony to the goodness and truth of those statements, Debbie. Thanking God for your young girl's heart that grew up to minister to so many others' hearts in more ways than one.

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  4. Powerful! And to think He not only repaired that wee Debbie's heart, He gave you a huge heart to boot.

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  5. Not a question in my mind that God was teaching the little Debbie lessons that have grown and become strong in he big Debbie! Somehow, I love both Debbies!! :)

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  6. I cannot imagine what you went through. I am so glad your mother was able to hold you. <3 I'm sure she could hardly wait to get her hands on you.

    Thank you for sharing your sweet story with us.

    Love & hugs,
    Beth

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  7. It's amazing in reading these letters how our past pain and hardship was redeemed and how that influenced our future. Great job.

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  8. Oh, Debbie, what a beautiful, heartfelt letter, and I was so touched as I read it. Just as the Lord used loved ones to comfort and support you when you were seven, He gave you the gifts of encouragement and loving care as a nurse and as a teacher of the little ones you now love on. I so loved this lost, and it has given me much to think about on what I would write to myself.
    Blessings and love,
    Laurie

    P.S. I'd love to have that glass of iced tea with you someday! :)

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  9. "Nothing is wasted. God will use this experience for good." A perspective on suffering from a Christian who has BEEN THERE and knows. I loved your post. I touched on my own heart condition and brushes with death in my letter to my younger self today as well. I also became a nurse because of my experiences in the hospital, and now I am a nursing professor. Funny how God uses those awful experiences to shape us and call us into helping others!
    http://www.turquoisegates.com/2012/08/one-right-choice-letter-to-my-younger.html

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  10. Oh my goodness, Debbie this really touched my heart. You are strong and beautiful and I love that God used your experience to bring something so good from it. I'm sure you have blessed so many in your nursing. :)

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  11. Oh Debbie, I have heard this story before, but each time I am reminded of that little girl, my heart is tendered toward her, toward you. You did not waste your suffering, and even though you were just a little girl, you have chosen to allow God to use that experience for good.
    God has blessed your heart, and you continue to bless my (others) heart.

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I love to read your comments! I know you have something to share so join in the conversation. And thank you for taking the time.

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