Dear Timmy,

I’m so grateful I get to write this letter to you. Let it remind you that things won’t always be as they are.  

You won’t always feel being picked last for baseball in PE is the end of your existence as you know it.

You won’t always feel “different” for feeling different, because you’ll find out everyone feels different in one way or another.

You won’t always feel like a third wheel in every male-only context. In fact, one day you’ll feel “like one of the guys,” even if it seems impossible to imagine now.

You won’t always feel fat, awkward, and unlikable. You’ll learn to limit your eating and take care of your body, getting some good exercise. In fact, you’ll enjoy and excel at doing push-ups. I know that’s hard to picture.

You won’t always feel alone in trying to receive God’s love and love Him well. And even though you have these desires of wanting to be with a dad who enjoys you, teaches you sports, tousles your hair, roughhouses with you, teases you with affection, gives you a big hug, and tells you he loves you, YOU just may become the dad who gives that to his son.

You won’t always struggle with inferiority regarding your body. We aren’t as well-endowed as the average man, but you’ll discover that guys come in all sizes. God has made every man more than adequate. 

You won’t always feel disinterested at best and intimidated at worst by women. In fact, a couple of women will catch your eye in your twenties. One will become your wife for nearly 39 years.

You won’t always feel uncomfortable with your body. Believe it or not, one day you’ll feel completely comfortable in your skin. It will be a gift from God and a gift from your community of men who will be in your corner and believe in Christ in you, the hope of glory.

It won’t always be this way. 

Timmy, you can smile at the future. Really.

With love,

Tim