A Letter to a Friend....

I wrote a letter to a friend recently... who I've seen go through many personal struggles... but then I pondered... I have so many friends who I know have or are going through struggles... truth is we all have our personal struggles from time to time... because it's not the "perfect world" that we so often hope for... and unfortunately no one is immune to pain...

So, I decided to share it with many friends... hoping that perhaps it would encourage you also and give you hope in whatever stage you may find yourself at this time... or in the future...

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A Letter To A Friend....

I am writing this to you, as a friend, because I care… even though I know I’m the last person you may want to hear from right now!

I toiled for several hours on what I would say… awaking extremely early and in angst because I see in you so many things I have and am struggling with myself… so I hope I can encourage you in what I wish to share… if you will be patient to hear me out…

But first, I thought it may be helpful for me to paint a picture for you…because a picture paints a thousand words and I hope it can relate to you better than my words alone will… so I share with you a dream that I had some time ago…

In my dream I saw someone, seated and sewing dark colours into a huge piece of fabric… I looked and I was depressed about how dark and dreary it was, bleak and ugly… and somehow I knew this was a representation of my life… the pain; the rejection; disappointment; sorrow; loss; anguish and despair; confusion and hopelessness; all my dark times… and a sense of abandonment in that everything I had worked so hard for was all in vain…

I wanted to run away from it, unable to look any longer - because it was not what I had hoped and tried so hard for… and I failed to make any sense of it – how anything good could come from all this ugliness - or how or why it even came to be there…

But then – suddenly - I was looking from a distance and I now I saw the big picture… I could see the whole piece of fabric… that was intertwined with beautiful colours and textures and an image was beginning to emerge from the woven threads…

What I had seen as ugly and painful and times I wanted to run away from… that formed the dark threads in this tapestry of my life… had now become the depth and the contrast enhancing the colours and the light… and the overall image that was emerging and taking form of what would become the final big picture…

I share this with you, because I know you have been through many silent struggles… but I have noticed… and I’ve prayed for you even though many times I’ve said nothing… because I didn’t know what to say…

Yet, I’ve seen you immerse yourself in the things you were passionate about… giving wholeheartedly to those things that you are good at and inspire a fire in your belly… but then dark times came and the things you were passionate about became your way of escape… hoping the pain would go away…

But the darkness would not go away and weaved its way into the tapestry even though you hated to look at it or even acknowledge it was there… even finding that eventually, the pain had found a way to rob you of the very things you were passionate about… stifling and even to the point of immobilising you - and things started to seem meaningless and pointless as everything you had hoped for and worked so hard for was ripped out from under you and slipped away and turned into a nightmare…

I know… I’ve been there…. And it’s been a long haul getting past that point… and sometimes I've found myself back there… wondering again: what the hell happened?

But - I’m starting to realise again, that as I step back and see the big picture… there is so much more to what the tapestry of my life looks like…

And in the end, it will be beautiful - and the dark patches will give way to the colours and the colours will fade into the light… creating something I never thought possible… and that only the creator of the tapestry can ultimately weave – in the skilful knowledge and mastery of how the hues and shades can blend and work together to compliment and create a picture of beauty and awe that those looking on would never have thought possible!

I speak this over your life today, as a friend and as an onlooker – to encourage you that you are not alone and that your struggles are not in vain and that you are appreciated… and that the tapestry of your life – even though the dark patches seem too ugly to look at – will ultimately form part of a greater picture that you will even stand back in wonder at how it all came together!

Why am I sharing this? Because I know what a dark, lonely and horrible place that can be… and how much it would have encouraged me if someone had taken the time to speak into my life now as I am to you… may you see the darkness give way to the colours and light woven into your tapestry – and may the big picture unfold and emerge before your eyes… breathing fresh hope and healing to your soul…

Blessings &

In all sincerity

Raylene