Dear Prodigal Child,
A new year! I hope you see the possibilities and potential (positive) outcomes that can be in this year for you. It saddens me that you were not home to celebrate the incoming year with us. Once again, I am eternally grateful that you are safe, even though you are away.
As the father of the prodigal son in the Bible forgave his son, I will forgive you, too. Forgiveness does not mean that I will allow you to have your way, when you do return to my home. When you were given the freedom to go and do as you pleased, but with a curfew, you forgot the responsibilities that go with that freedom. Now you need to re-earn that freedom, as well as trust.
Many blessings to you, whether you are by my side or far away, over this next year.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Letter 5
Dear Prodigal Child,
Today, I learned that the girl you ran off with is still missing. It makes me so much more thankful that you were able to walk away from her, and turn yourself in. I've tried to help her parents with as much information as I can provide for them. The few days you were gone have really pushed me to help them find her. It's not as a punishment. Instead it's to give the parents the sense of relief I have felt.
Even though I'm frustrated with your behavior, I am impressed with the efforts you are making to turn this around. Not only did you walk away from a friend, who you could see was not making the best decisions, but you turned yourself in. Even knowing that you will be in Detention, but not knowing for how long. This is a great example of how you need to start taking responsibility for your own actions.
When life gets back to normal, I hope that you remember the tough lessons you are learning. Above all, keep God in your heart.
Today, I learned that the girl you ran off with is still missing. It makes me so much more thankful that you were able to walk away from her, and turn yourself in. I've tried to help her parents with as much information as I can provide for them. The few days you were gone have really pushed me to help them find her. It's not as a punishment. Instead it's to give the parents the sense of relief I have felt.
Even though I'm frustrated with your behavior, I am impressed with the efforts you are making to turn this around. Not only did you walk away from a friend, who you could see was not making the best decisions, but you turned yourself in. Even knowing that you will be in Detention, but not knowing for how long. This is a great example of how you need to start taking responsibility for your own actions.
When life gets back to normal, I hope that you remember the tough lessons you are learning. Above all, keep God in your heart.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Letter 4
Dear Prodigal Child,
Even though you are safe and sound, I know you have a long road ahead of you. There are some friendships that have been damaged, that may be beyond repair. All of the trust that had been built up in the last few months, has been wiped out. Now you are back to the beginning of rebuilding that trust.
Over all of the years your sister has blindly trusted you, as well as looked up to you as the older sister. Even she has come to the point of no longer fully trusting you.
That being said, you are still loved. One thing we are all learning is that there is a difference between forgiving someone and trusting them. You are forgiven for your actions and behavior. However, there is a lot work to be done before the trust is there again.
Part of that trust will rest on who you choose to be around, and the friends you surround yourself with. If I don't trust your friends, I'm going to have a hard time trusting what you are doing.
It is good that you are using your time wisely by reading the Bible. If you keep God's Word in your heart, it will be difficult to fill it with evil and destruction.
Even though you are safe and sound, I know you have a long road ahead of you. There are some friendships that have been damaged, that may be beyond repair. All of the trust that had been built up in the last few months, has been wiped out. Now you are back to the beginning of rebuilding that trust.
Over all of the years your sister has blindly trusted you, as well as looked up to you as the older sister. Even she has come to the point of no longer fully trusting you.
That being said, you are still loved. One thing we are all learning is that there is a difference between forgiving someone and trusting them. You are forgiven for your actions and behavior. However, there is a lot work to be done before the trust is there again.
Part of that trust will rest on who you choose to be around, and the friends you surround yourself with. If I don't trust your friends, I'm going to have a hard time trusting what you are doing.
It is good that you are using your time wisely by reading the Bible. If you keep God's Word in your heart, it will be difficult to fill it with evil and destruction.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Letter 3
Dear Prodigal Child,
You have become proof positive of the power of prayer. After spending 3 days searching for you in the area, I (finally) decided to put a prayer request out. Although I had been praying for your safety, I didn't ask others to pray for you. Within hours of putting out that prayer request, you made your first call home.
You were safe! That was my biggest concern the entire time. Prayers continued to be answered, when He provided a safe place for you to go to the following morning. Not only was there a church nearby, it was the denomination you grew up in!
Yes, I am sad that you are not home for Christmas. However, you are SAFE! That lifts such a worry off of my heart. There is a long road ahead of you, but you are on the right road. Just like the Prodigal Son of the Bible, you had to sleep with swine before you realized where true happiness is.
You have become proof positive of the power of prayer. After spending 3 days searching for you in the area, I (finally) decided to put a prayer request out. Although I had been praying for your safety, I didn't ask others to pray for you. Within hours of putting out that prayer request, you made your first call home.
You were safe! That was my biggest concern the entire time. Prayers continued to be answered, when He provided a safe place for you to go to the following morning. Not only was there a church nearby, it was the denomination you grew up in!
Yes, I am sad that you are not home for Christmas. However, you are SAFE! That lifts such a worry off of my heart. There is a long road ahead of you, but you are on the right road. Just like the Prodigal Son of the Bible, you had to sleep with swine before you realized where true happiness is.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Letter 2
Dear Prodigal Child,
Every time I hear the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" on the radio, I say a quick prayer that I will at least know where you are on Christmas. If you really knew how much your actions are tearing your sister and me up, you would not have even thought about taking off! Once again, I am being forced to fake my joy through Christmas. The year your dad was in the hospital with Pneumonia. Then the year he died. Two years ago, after you wiped out my bank account. Now this Christmas.
Every time I hear the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" on the radio, I say a quick prayer that I will at least know where you are on Christmas. If you really knew how much your actions are tearing your sister and me up, you would not have even thought about taking off! Once again, I am being forced to fake my joy through Christmas. The year your dad was in the hospital with Pneumonia. Then the year he died. Two years ago, after you wiped out my bank account. Now this Christmas.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Letter 1
Dear Prodigal Child,
There are more questions than answers for you. To begin with WHY!?
Why at Christmas time?
Why run at all? It is not like your life at home was miserable. Everything was provided for you. A roof over your head. Food on your plate. Clothes on your back. A bed to sleep on. Heat. Water. A cell phone. Internet. Plus much more! I may not have been able to afford top-of-the line items for you, but you were well provided for.
Why undo everything you have worked so hard at over the last year? You managed to recover your credits so you can graduate on time. Now you will most likely be reduced to a GED, instead of walking across the stage.
Was/is it worth it? At the rate you are going, you will miss out on a lot of events over the next year, if not longer. As I already mentioned, your own graduation is one thing. You and I have talked about all of these things we wanted to do in 2012, as well as what you wanted to do. Visiting friends back east is out of the question now. Prom and bridesmaid dress shopping is not going to happen. You won't even be able to attend Prom! You will be missing out on all of your Senior moments! From the sounds of things, you aren't even going to be able to attend the wedding in August. (This also ruins the wedding pictures. You will not be in them!) I was planning on going to the DMV with you next week to get your Learner's Permit. That's not going to happen.
If the Judge throws the book at you, you will be spending another birthday in detention. If you are lucky, you might be out by your 25th birthday. If you are in until 25, you will not only miss your 21st birthday, you will also miss your sister's. You will miss her graduation, too.
Again...WAS IT WORTH IT!?
There are more questions than answers for you. To begin with WHY!?
Why at Christmas time?
Why run at all? It is not like your life at home was miserable. Everything was provided for you. A roof over your head. Food on your plate. Clothes on your back. A bed to sleep on. Heat. Water. A cell phone. Internet. Plus much more! I may not have been able to afford top-of-the line items for you, but you were well provided for.
Why undo everything you have worked so hard at over the last year? You managed to recover your credits so you can graduate on time. Now you will most likely be reduced to a GED, instead of walking across the stage.
Was/is it worth it? At the rate you are going, you will miss out on a lot of events over the next year, if not longer. As I already mentioned, your own graduation is one thing. You and I have talked about all of these things we wanted to do in 2012, as well as what you wanted to do. Visiting friends back east is out of the question now. Prom and bridesmaid dress shopping is not going to happen. You won't even be able to attend Prom! You will be missing out on all of your Senior moments! From the sounds of things, you aren't even going to be able to attend the wedding in August. (This also ruins the wedding pictures. You will not be in them!) I was planning on going to the DMV with you next week to get your Learner's Permit. That's not going to happen.
If the Judge throws the book at you, you will be spending another birthday in detention. If you are lucky, you might be out by your 25th birthday. If you are in until 25, you will not only miss your 21st birthday, you will also miss your sister's. You will miss her graduation, too.
Again...WAS IT WORTH IT!?
Explanation.
Saturday night, you came home to get clothes to "spend the night" at a friend's house. As you ran out the door, you yelled over your shoulder "Bye! Love you, Mom!"
A few hours later, another friend was knocking on my door looking for the two of you. She had been contacted by the first friend's parents. It all became very clear, in a really short time, that it was going to be an extremely long night. Little did I know that this was going to be a life changing event.
Since then, we have discovered the two of you are hell-bent on a road trip that will most likely land you locked up, either in a Psych Ward or Detention.
Since the "Love You!" message, there has been zero communication with you. Since I have no way of contacting you, I am writing letters to you via blog. Someday, you will be able to read these and understand what was going through my heart and mind while you are away. In the meantime, I am praying like a crazy woman that you are at least safe.
A few hours later, another friend was knocking on my door looking for the two of you. She had been contacted by the first friend's parents. It all became very clear, in a really short time, that it was going to be an extremely long night. Little did I know that this was going to be a life changing event.
Since then, we have discovered the two of you are hell-bent on a road trip that will most likely land you locked up, either in a Psych Ward or Detention.
Since the "Love You!" message, there has been zero communication with you. Since I have no way of contacting you, I am writing letters to you via blog. Someday, you will be able to read these and understand what was going through my heart and mind while you are away. In the meantime, I am praying like a crazy woman that you are at least safe.
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