My father left when I was seven years old, but I always held out hope that one day he might come back to see me again.
When it came time for my birthday each year, I secretly believed a card from him would arrive. Since I walked home from school, I was always the first in my family to check the mailbox. But, as each year passed, I never did find what I longed to arrive from the post office.
When I graduated from high school and stood at the podium giving my graduation speech addressing my senior classmates, I still looked for him in the stands. I thought maybe once I turned eighteen, my father would appear in the crowd as it dispersed. I imagined it to be like an after-school movie special and I would finally be reunited with the man who was missing from my life.
But no such person came forward to shake my hand or call me daughter. And that’s when I decided it was time to grow up and to stop wishing for such things. I remember getting on an airplane for the first time to fly down south to Los Angeles to go to college. As I sat looking out the window, seeing the city I grew up in disappear as the plane climbed into the clouds, I remember whispering to Jesus, “It’s just you and me, Jesus. Thank you for taking care of me. I love you.” Then, I decided to stop wondering why my father left and why he never came back for me. A new exciting chapter of life and my future was opening up to me and I was happy to leave my questions in the past.
I told myself that my Heavenly Father was the only dad who took care of me all these years anyhow. I had asked Jesus to come into my heart when I was seven years old, sitting in the back of an old-fashioned revival meeting one night. From the moment I heard words read from a book called the Bible – that God loved me so much, He sent His only Son to suffer and die for me – I went from being a little girl who had been abandoned to becoming the adopted daughter of my Heavenly Daddy. And because I loved reading books like gobbling chocolate chip cookies, I didn’t read the Bible as a manual for life. I read the Bible as love letters from God, who was now my Forever Father. I wanted to know everything about Jesus and He would be the one I would rely on from that day forward.
The Bible became the one loving voice in my life. My diary entries journaling how I felt, my questions, heartaches and dreams, and the promises I found in the Scriptures became intermingled in one place. God’s love whispered to me like a song in the night and Jesus became my all in all.
God takes our broken pieces and makes beautiful things with the touch of His love.
I never would have guessed that years later, once I became a mom of two boys, I would stumble on an old birth certificate and decide to investigate the secrets of my childhood. With Jesus as my guide, I began a search for answers to the questions I once abandoned: Where was my father and why did he leave?
God cares about our stories. Your story matters.
I’ve always tried to fit in, to be “normal” like everyone else around me. But, as my journey for answers unfolded, I discovered the broken pieces I tried to hide about myself were the very things God celebrates as beauty. You are no less beautiful, friend!
God invites us to embrace our true worth, because brokenness is made beautiful in God’s love.
During the pandemic last year, I began to write my third book about this journey to find my father and share what God taught me about brokenness made beautiful. I am writing this book to empower each woman to blossom in her true worth.
As I captured my stories on paper, God brought me back to His faithful promises in the Bible that comforted, strengthened, and encouraged me as a little girl. I believe each woman who reads this new book will gain the same encouragement to celebrate who God created her to be. As I learned to make sense of the past in light of God’s truth, I was renewed with peace, courage, and joy to face my challenges today in the present.
As we step into the new year, I want to cheer you on with a few of God’s beautiful love notes for your soul. Hear God’s whispers of love to you today:
You are my beloved. You are mine.
The Lord who created you says, “Do not be afraid — I will save you.
I have called you by name — you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1 (GNT)
I will always hold you tenderly through the night with my love.
By day the Lord directs His love,
at night his song is with me –
a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:8 (NIV)
I will always take care of you. No matter what.
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed.
Isaiah 54:10 (NIV)
I will always be faithful to love you with kindness.
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
(Jeremiah 31:3 NIV)
As I share the most vulnerable stories of my heart to release my new book this year, I’ll be holding onto these promises from God, my Forever Father. He’s holding onto you, too. As you step into the new year, turn from fear and uncertainty and look down. Embrace your true worth as God’s beloved daughter. See Jesus folding His hand into yours, tenderly whispering, You are worth loving in the new year. You are my beloved.
Thank you for all of this, Bonnie! Looking forward to your next book. Your Whispers of Love book was a love letter from the Lord to my soul, when sorely needed. May we hear God’s love letter in His Word afresh today.
It means so much to know my book Whispers of Rest read like a love letter from the Lord to your soul. Thank you, Andrea! I can’t wait to share more love letters in new stories to encourage and lift your soul in my new book, beautiful friend! have a beautiful day. You’re so beloved!
Beautiful Bonnie – I love your writing and your gentle spirit. I LOVED Whispers of Rest and the online study that went with it. I felt such peace and a blanket of God’s love wrapped around me. thank you thank you. May God bless your new book as it is released and those who read it. May they find ‘ The Father’s’ love and come to know, He is all they need! God bless you
Beautiful Tamara, I’m so touched to hear how Whispers of Rest and the online study has wrapped peace around your soul with God’s love! Thank you so much! Yes, it is my heart for the new book, that we will be inspired to see God’s love and beauty in new ways and blossom in our true worth in who God created us to be, as His beloved. God bless you, sister!
Great encouragement.
Thank you, Rehema! So blessed the words encouraged your soul. May you feel as beautiful and beloved as you truly are by our Loving Savior today!
Bonnie,
Thank you for pointing us to the personal love letter to each of us that is found in God’s Word! In this turbulent world and uncertain 2021, I cling to His promises that enable me to persevere when I feel weary. He promises we will reap a bountiful harvest if we keep sowing and do not quit! Looking forward to adding your new book to my collection of your love-filled words!
Blessings and thanks,
Bev xx
Yes, God’s promises wrap around us like an eternal love letter, so personal to each of us. Thank. you for your love and support, Bev!
Dear Bonnie, I read your writing “You are worth loving in the New Year” and being a widow, missing my husband is a similar loss. Loss is the hardest part of life. So the love of our Father is our comfort and with us always. You sound very strong and grounded, so why don’t you explore reaching out to your birth father. It will give you closure for all the years of longing for him. If your mother is still alive, she could help you with some of the details. This journey might help you with medical issues unknown to you or it might bring joy to this man, your birth father. Consider and pray about an idea which I am sure you have thought about in the years of your prodical father.
Dear Connie, I’m so sorry for such a deep loss as your husband. May God’s love continue to comfort you, as the memories surface throughout this season of remembrance and grieving. Yes, sweet friend, I did try to find my father and what I learned on the journey is the story I’m sharing in the new book I’m releasing this year! I hope you will join me this year as I release these stories from my heart of God’s love and faithfulness. Have a blessed day!
Beautiful Bonnie
Always heart felt
Always encouraging us!
You too are precious and beloved in His sight!
Love you sweet friend!
May you be touched with God’s loving presence! So wonderful to hear your voice here, Brenda!
Thanks so much Bonnie!
Man did my soul need this encouragement more than ever right now…so cool to see God always at work…;) Appreciate your beautiful soul being a beacon of God’s light…a grounding hope.
Thankful He brought me you this morning. Excited to order your new book! And receive your emails in the future.
Peace’Love’Godbless to you and yours ~
Carrie
Dear Carrie, I’m so touched to know I shared the morning’s first moments together through these words here – and blessed to know the words encouraged your heart, as it did mine! I’m so happy to know you’re with me on the journey as I release my new book! Thank you for your support, sister and kindred spirit! May you feel as beautiful and beloved as you truly are, by our Loving Savior today!
Thank you for sharing your stories with us that show God’s abundant love, Bonnie. I look forward to learning more about your new book coming up!
Thanks so much, Lynn! I’m so grateful for your support on this journey of faith together – throughout the years! Have a beautiful day and peace to you! waving hello to you from CA to you in Canada!
I related so much to your story, Bonnie. It was beautiful. Thank you.
Thank you for your story has meaning to me and many. Be blessd
Thank you so much
Bonnie,
Thank you for sharing your heart & soul with us. In times like these we need to be reminded of the love & many promises of our most gracious savior. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to destroy us. Telling us lies & making us feel defeated & broken. God invites us to embrace our true worth. Isaiah says it best in Isaiah 61:1,3 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. After all we were made in the image of God. Let’s embrace our true worth.
Blessings 🙂
Oh yayyy, Bonnie! I look forward to your 3rd book! How wonderful! I feel like I’m going to need it this year! Thank you for your courage & your desire to reach us gals out here! So many of us struggle with missing our Daddy’s! Happy 2021 to you & your loved ones! ♡♡♡
Somoni
Stand-alone
solid state
Bonnie, your words always find a way to touch my heart and comfort my soul. I’m so looking forward to your next book. I still reread Whispers of Rest, it has gotten me through some difficult, anxiety ridden, and emotional situations. My heart goes out to you for what you have gone through, and I’m so inspired by your strength. Thank you for these words of comfort and sharing your faith and your heart. God bless you.
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