Dear Me, I'm Proud of You!

Dear Jante,

I’m proud of you girl! In your life, you have taken your fair share of licks—you’ve given some too however, you just keep on ticking. Jante, KNOW that you ARE loved… DEEPLY!!! And you give a lot of love as well! Your candor is special—NEVER lose that! Truth is you fight with God often about why He has mandated you to share so much of your inner workings, traumas, pain and shame even though it’s seemingly unpalatable? But you know why…. When God was seeking someone who’d speak up for the shame filled weirdos with ugly past, who'd simultaneously limp towards their own healing you said, “Lord send me”. Jante, God can trust you… that’s why!

Look at you…. Today, not only are you the bomb mother (imperfectly of course)! You are a great wife, a wonderful friend, confidant of many, Survivor, Author, Speaker, Nonprofit Founder and most recently a Certified Life Coach. And need I say… You are a beast with your words You love hard—to some, too hard. You are a sensitive soul who feels more than you communicate and that’s a stretch considering you’re pretty proficient in the area of talking. I guess you too understand why the caged bird sings and how life-giving it is to speak after life itself tried to steal your voice. You advocate for those who believe themselves to be useless. You really SEE people! You are generous to a fault. You are a fearless believer in the dreams of others. You are silly as all get out. But what makes you really special is your CHOOSING to be intentionally kind.

The confident-freedom and grace in which you carry yourself sometimes intimidate those who seek to define you based on observation rather than conversation, and though you wish it were not this way, you cannot keep apologizing for their misinterpretation. Contrary to what may or may not be believed, you have fought for every ounce of confidence that you have. It took many years for you to learn to love yourself because for a time you lived your insecurities out loud. Your healing journey is ongoing being that trust is a tricky one for you! You allow yourself to be vulnerable, but only a small portion of the time—I want you to work on that. You DESERVE all the goodness God has in store for you, so give yourself permission to receive it! Dim your light for absolutely NO ONE!!!

Babe, I’m proud of you and really wanted you to know it… just because!

P.S. I LOVE YOU!