Have you ever written a letter to yourself?

At some point in my childhood I was gifted a scrapbook which encouraged me to write down all sorts of things about myself. At the end of the book it provided an envelope and suggested writing a letter to yourself in 10 years. Surprisingly, 13-year-old me did it on October 15th, 2014.

For 10 years it tumbled around in my desk, until on January 26th, 2024, I opened the letter. It was hilarious & bittersweet. Several things stood out to me, including the question "ARE YOU FAMOUS YET?" I asked dozens of very specific questions, in fact, allowing me to pinpoint my interests, desires, experiences, and friends of the era.

Some time in 2019, I decided to write another letter to myself—this one to my 25-year-old self. I got no further than the first two lines, but I rediscovered it in January 2020 (what a baby I was then; I had no idea what would happen in just 2 months) and finished it. Today, I opened it.

The style is very different. Instead of peppering myself with questions and trying to make my older self laugh, my 2020 self wrote something more poignant. At the time, I was struggling with depression and anxiety without even knowing they were a thing. I had no idea that the next 3 years would see me at rock bottom, fighting every day to stay alive. Remembering the suicidal tendencies in late 2020, I was really touched by my "hopefully you'll see this and see how far you've come."

Mostly, I spent the letter musing about growth, hoping that 25-year-old me had lost "the constant worry that I'm wrong" (oh, my sweet summer child). "Please be much better," I said. "There are so many ways I hope you've changed."

It was really beautiful to look at the fear and grief that pervaded this letter, and realize how far God brought me. I don’t know that I have changed so much—but I've seen him answer prayers and open doors and carry me through the things I thought would finish me. It comforts me to realize that he's the same today as he was then. You know the motivational quote that goes "you've survived 100% of your bad days so far"? Well, I know he will carry me through the next 5 years' bad days and bad hours and bad minutes.

So today I sat down and wrote another letter to myself. A "Dear 30" letter. 25 was a scary age for me at 20. I couldn't fathom it. 30 is my new "scary age." And today, I wrote to remind my future self that God got us through 5 scary years okay, and he'll get us through the next ten.

I think I'll write another letter to myself. Maybe another "open in 10 years" letter. Or maybe a Dear 40 letter.

It's fun. But it's also a written testimony that "Eben-Ezer"—"hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Or, as the French bible puts it: « L'Éternel nous a secourus jusqu'ici » (the Eternal has rescued us up to here).

With love,

Katja

|| News ||

// The lovely Savannah @ Blue Flower Story Company shared a guest post on my blog! Since I'm preparing to write my own WWII novel, I asked her to share about the writing process for her recently released Trains & Tulips: A Novel of the World War II Dutch Resistance. You can find her amazing post here. And if you're interested in WWII, I definitely recommend her novel.

Find out more about Trains & Tulips and read a content guide on the book page on Savannah’s author website here. Order signed copies and fun bookish merch (US only) here. Find Trains and Tulips on Amazon here. And on Barnes & Noble here. And finally, read my review here!

// Don't forget I'm hosting a short story contest! I hope to make this a quarterly feature, but we'll see how it goes. You can find all the information here.

// Also: I am participating in Kate’s newly-created TBR party in February, and I am so excited! So excited, in fact, that I wrote and schedule my posts on the very evening I received all the info  Anyways, we'd love to have you join us!

// And finally, I have a wide open calendar for proofreading and editing in 2026! If you’re interested in working with me, check out my website here.

|| A Spotlight ||

A few (okay, maybe more than a few) months ago my friend Kell and I did a newsletter spotlight swap... except I forgot to actually do it. So today I'd like to introduce you to the absolute powerhouse that is Kellyn Roth. I've been published in 3 of her anthologies (hope to be in the next one, haha) and I highly, highly recommend her as a publisher to work with. As a person, she's also a hugely encouraging and transparent person with a tremendous heart for indie authors and young Christian women, so I also really recommend her socials. And as an author, she writes "historical romance that tackles hard topics with honesty and leaves you with a sense of resilient hope," and her Chronicles of Alice & Ivy in particular has been a source of encouragement and comfort to me (you can find my reviews here). Here's what she has to say about herself:

For readers who love historical romance that goes deeper, Kellyn Roth writes Christian romance novels that shine hope without pretending darkness doesn’t exist. Her goal is to encourage and equip women to think deeply and grow as authentic people through stories. Her email list is where she shares her most personal reflections on faith, life, and the messy parts of the writing journey—and, of course, pictures of her border collie. It’s the best way to get her book updates and join a community of thoughtful readers. As a thank you for joining, new subscribers receive a free copy of her novella, The Artist of Hearthstone Cottage.* You can join by visiting https://kellynrothauthor.com/newsletter/.

*The Artist of Hearthstone Cottage is a retelling of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and it's really sweet 😉

|| A Thought ||

There's a French hymn we sing at church called Mon Dieu est si bon, and the words really speak to me, so I decided to share it. You can listen to it here, and I decided to write a rough translation below.*

{1} My God is so good; he takes good care of me.

This God so faithful, do you know that he thinks of you?

He wants to help you in your difficulties;

You have to come to him just as you are.

{2} He lives forever; he’s an all-mighty God;

He will answer you—simply come to him! 

When everything seems black, sad, and desperate,

Do you know that up there you are not forgotten?

{3} My God will help you; he will lead your steps,

If you want to walk—to submit to his law. 

So fear no more; you can count on him;

He will accomplish everything he has promised.

{Chorus} God knows so well what seems heavy to you,

What hurts you, what troubles you every day; 

He knows your needs, your fear of tomorrow;

With my God, you know everything will go well. 

*Apparently the original lyrics are Swedish and composed by Ingamay Hörnberg, while the French adaptation is by H. Lepczynski.

P.S. I updated my address on these emails. You can now see Thalassa's address (...kinda... I had to change a few things to fit all the boxes, haha). Thank you so much to Maddie for the idea 😉 💙