"Letters To Lana" #2

As a parent, we want to give our children the world. We want to give you guys a better life than we had growing up.


But that dynamic is much more complex than I initially thought. I hope and pray that you never have to experience what I had to go through growing up, let alone what your Lola had to go through in the Philippines, but I’m sure she’ll tell you that story at one point.


I want to protect you from that reality…but then again that reality also produced significant growth and perspective. Those times of struggles, taught me invaluable life lessons that helped your mother and I create the life you have today!


So as much as I want to protect you from pain, I know there’s always something good that will come from it.


I guess it’s kind of like a superpower, being able to constantly see the good in any and every situation.


It’s not “toxic positivity”, or whatever your generation decides to call it by the time you’re older, it’s just FAITH.


It’s faith in knowing that God can use any situation and make it work out in the end. It’ll feel like crap in the beginning, especially when it’s fresh and you don’t see how it’s possible to get passed it all, but it’ll get better.


Time is a powerful treatment, but faith is the true antidote.


As much as I want to say that I’ll always be here to protect you, there will be times in life when I can’t.


But we can do our best to equip you with the tools you need to succeed. To teach you the lessons you need to conquer every obstacle and how to forge your own set of tools as well.


My #1 tool is FAITH. Like I said, it really does feel like a superpower when you know that God’s always in control.


There’s a certain calmness and peace that surges through your body even when you’re going through challenging times.


It’s a tool I’ve gotten better at using over time.


It’s a tool that I sometimes question whether it’s working or not…but it is.


You’ll get so frustrated that you’ll smack that tool against something hard hoping to fix it, you’ll shake close to your ear to hear if it’s broken, you’ll even toss it away thinking “I’ll just buy a new one”…


Trust me, it’s not broken.


It’s working just the way it’s designed to.


It ALWAYS is.


Sometimes we just need a little patience for it to start kicking in.


Remember that time is a powerful treatment, but faith is the true antidote.