Dear Future Scott

A few weeks ago I read one of my coworkers blogs. He wrote an entry in which he wrote a letter to his future self 5 years from now in hopes to encourage himself and strive to be a better man of God. He got the idea from his brother-in-law who wrote himself a letter before entering high school and read it at his graduation party 5 years later. So here it goes...


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Dear Future Scott,
Currently you're on the verge of turning 30 and you're not in the place where you thought you would be, but life is still good. God has blessed you immensely and I can't imagine that those blessings will stop especially if you continue to remain faithful to Him. I don't know what your life will look like 5 years from now but,

Hopefully you still look like this...


Lord willing you will have found the love of your life and you are happily married. Don't forget to never take her for granted and how you longed for God to provide you with a person to share your life with. Love her everyday as God loves her. Love her like you promised you would to God when praying that he would provide you with a wonderful woman of God. I hope that picture you had in your head, you know the one about you playing piano in your living room as your wife is reading has come true. I could probably go on about this topic but I will stop here.

I know you've always wanted kids so maybe you have one by now? Remember that tough love is good love. Even though you want to give her/him everything they want, chocolate at night and McDonald's for lunch is not good for them. I know you love sleep and that probably is non-existent now. Remember when you couldn't fathom being too old to sleep in anymore? Haha, I bet that day is long gone now. I bet it's so worth it though. I hope you learn from them and are reminded of the innocence, love and child like faith a kid has. I hope you are reminded of what being care free is, and what pure joy is. I know you're going to be good Dad.

I hope you're investing in a church and that you're trying to make deep relationships with people. I know you always shy away from trying to get involved, but I know by now that you finally feel comfortable not being a wallflower and actually serving side by side with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Get over yourself and do it. What would you be without people in your life? Nothing.

Did you go for that PhD? I hope so. You always doubted yourself academically and I don't know why. So many people have told you how much you bring to the classroom and how your different ideas and perspectives really help others. Yes it takes you forever to read a book, and your writing is scrambled, but I hope you remembered the fulfillment and excitement you felt when you were in the classroom and the day you got hooded and that those things helped to push you to go for it. I hope your sister is not the only Dr. Hwang in the family...

Are you still carrying that torch for diversity in higher education? I hope you're not jaded or burnt out and that you can see you're making a difference. I hope you're loving your students and seeing that, caring for them is the purpose of your work. Woo-Sah buddy, woo-saah. Remember, that the work of reconciliation is not supposed to be easy. If Christ died on the cross for our sins, what must you do to help make this world a better place? You are called to reconcile every day in all that you do.

I hope in five years the Raiders actually made the playoffs and that you're friends with these people...



also that the Dodgers make a run at a World Series. I hope you still do your man trip with your buddies and that you convinced your college friends to finally rent that house in the Outer Banks for a week in the summer, heck by now it should be a tradition.

I hope you still love to dance at weddings and go crazy every once in a while. You have a great family and awesome friends. Keep on investing and loving them. I hope you have forgiven people if they hurt you in the past and that you're not bitter about anything. Life is too short to be jaded.

Best of luck my man. I'll see you in 5 years.

Scott