As I was sitting on my grandma’s front porch swing, one of our favorite places to talk, we were recalling the lives of David and Solomon.

David and Solomon were kings. David was the shepherd boy, who was the anointed king chosen by God. God had sought out a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) and chose David. Solomon was his wise son and heir to the throne. Although this sounds like a pretty good deal for both of them, they faced many hardships and trials in their lives. 

As we were talking about their lives my grandma said to me, “You know I am pretty old. You know my birthday is next month. Do you know how old I am going to be?” I said, “Eighty, let’s go with eighty.”

One thing I don’t like facing is my grandma getting older. My grandma has been my best friend, my confidant, she is a prayer warrior and the person whom I can talk to endlessly about the Word of God. She has been an amazing source of wise council. 

Jokingly, I said to her, “It is not like you have somewhere to be.” We both laughed, and she said, “At least in heaven I won’t have to scrub floors and clean out my cabinets.” 

My grandma has passed along a lot of wise words during my life. As I thought about her life and how fleeting it must sometimes seem. I thought about my life, the life of King David’s and the life of his son Solomon.

Often times, as we grow older, we say, “Oh, if I only knew then what I know now.”

So what would I say to the younger version of me?

First off, I would tell her that someday she will be the wife of an amazing, tall, dark and handsome godly man. She will be the mother of three beautiful children who will love her endlessly.

I would tell her that her adventuresome spirit will take her to many amazing places and to remember to love the people while she is there.

I would tell her that she will make many mistakes along the way and for that carry lots of guilt and shame for many years.

I would say that she will have her heart broken more times than she can count and face trials that will seem to never end.

I would want her to know that she will feel a heartache in losing children that will seem incomprehensible.   

  

I would want her to know that life is but a vapor and that always following her own desires is like chasing the wind. No man, no location, no thing will deliver what God alone can give her. 

True happiness will come from a God that has redeemed her and paid a ransom for her because she is precious to Him and because HE loves her.

Above all of life’s ups and downs, I would want her to know that in her dwells a God that will never let her go. No matter how far she runs, He will chase after her because He has called her His own. He is a God that has forgiven her and she will need to believe and trust that for herself so she can, in turn, forgive herself.

He will be her hope and her refuge when there seems like no way out. He will be her guiding light when all else seems dark. He will cover her in the cleft of the rock when she is scared. He will be her peace that surpasses all her understanding.

One day, young lady (that is what I will call her because I am older than her) you will look back at all of this and realize no matter how hard it was or how great it may have seemed, it was nothing without God. For in Him, you will find your true purpose, your true calling, your true hope.

I will tell her that I love her because she has a beautiful heart and to treat it well because one day we would give it ALL to our Lord and then our life will never be the same.

And the two of us would hug because we would be crying our eyes out and I would send her on her way to becoming the person that God has made her today. Truly blessed in every way.

So if you had the chance to tell yourself what you know now, what would you want your younger self to know?

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