The following is an excerpt taken from a letter written by a woman who attended the KAIROS Outside weekend to her fiancé who nominated her and is still incarcerated. (Initials have been substituted for actual names.)
"I had been working on a letter as a response to the last epistle you sent me, but upon returning from Kairos I tore it up and am now preparing this one. I let it go.
CC, first I want to say thank you. If it wasn't for you, I would have never experienced this retreat. My spirit feels cleansed, refreshed, rejuvenated. I'm on a high that I'm never coming down from. This journey has brought me closer to God and let me release all those things I hadn't even realized I'd been holding on to. It means so much to me. It made me cry all weekend.
Second, I love you very much. This is the most deepest, thoughtful, and loving gift anyone has ever given me. Priceless. Timeless. Words cannot express just how grateful and appreciative I am that you thought enough of me and you know me well enough to know that it was what we needed. The precious gift of agape you have given us, I will never forget. I will never forget; I will forever cherish and have this memory.
I'm so glad that you are in my life and you're still a part of my world. You're simply irreplaceable.
My cup is overflowing. I'm smiling on the inside and out. I am fully blessed and those women reminded me that I am special, I am beautiful, I'm not alone, I am loved and comforted. I am strong, deserving, and accepted as I am. I wish I could of seen this sooner. I don't despise you. I don't hate you. This retreat has allowed me to truly forgive everyone and forget everything. It is finished. The past is the past and that is where its going to stay. Everything is according to God's plan.
God don't make no mistakes. Everything is as it is because He said that it is so. This retreat helped me to finally forgive myself. I'd been beating myself up. I've learned thru this experience I had built a wall up of isolation, pity, anger, depression, fear, sad, regrets. I can go on and on but I laid it all at the cross. I gave it all to God and I let it go.
My eyes are wide open. My ears are tuned in. I'm listening to God. What is for me is for me and I know He won't fail me. I have you, God, and Kairos Outside to thank for all these things. I am seizing this moment."
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