Twenty-Two: Letters to a Young Woman Searching for Meaning

by Allison Trowbridge

We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.

Life is not about becoming somebody; life is about the process of becoming.

You are worth it. You are worth fighting for, worth sacrificing for, worth the commitment, worth the wait. You, my darling girl, are worthy of adoration every single day, in every single way. You are worthy of a confetti-falling kind of love. And if you journey through a love that takes you separate ways, I believe you can endure the break. I believe your resilient heart will be all the more beautiful for it.

Failure reminds us how much we need one another in prayer and work and partnership. We cannot do it all, and we certainly cannot do it well alone.