Love Letter

Today my heart is heavy, sinking in my chest. Today I have to leave Nottingham. I had absolutely no idea what this city and its people would do to transform me over these 3 months...so I've decided to write a love letter in parting.

Dear Nottingham,

You crept into my heart and made yourself a home, like some sort of illegal squatter. You aren't the prettiest Belle of the ball--there are many more cities in the UK that are bigger, older, more gorgeous, more adventurous, more wealthy, more stable. But you happened to be the one to win me over. God has a deep love for this city with all its cracks and crevices and quirks. I am the luckiest woman on the planet to have been given a glimpse of that love He has for you.

Did you know that God used you to heal me in the most miraculous, surprising ways? You did a much more deep healing than the frequently used one that takes broken pieces and pretends they're not there anymore, and fashions the brokenness into something totally different. Instead, you healed me by painstakingly and slowly gluing each broken piece back together. All the fragments and broken lines that make me up are now visible... However, I'm whole again. I have my scars and my past--but they've been renewed and restored.

I wasn't expecting to connect with so many people in this city. I have friendships that feel like they've lasted a lifetime. I have people who I've been able to confess things to in honesty that I would never dare have uttered back home. I have seen the love of God manifested in a church family with such genuine hearts that make my past church experiences seem almost fake and shallow. I have laughed till I've cried and cried till I've laughed. I have kissed in the rain and danced in the rain. I have found my voice was still strong, and that I can actually try to bless people with my music. I have made peace with God and man over some things that I never ever thought I'd be able to forgive. I have encountered the sort of true beauty that puts an unmovable fingerprint on your soul.

I have had the happiest days of my life here. I will never forget you. I can never replace you. I can never thank you enough.

Love,
Christina