Dear Son,
YOU GOT THIS! Your
first night at College! Can you believe
it? Life has come to this point and you
worked hard to earn it! Congrats doesn’t
even cover it, right?! It is a Huge deal
because Dad and I never got where you are.
You’re you and you are unique. That is cool. Buuuutttttt, it is not the climax
of your life, nor the end and it’s not all important in the big scheme of
things, really. The next few years are gonna fly by. But College is where you
are right now, so give it your all! Have
fun learning cool things. Not all of it
will be cool or fun, but give it your best.
Try new things. Meet new
people. Talk to strangers (Haha) and
Make friends. Some friends will just be
for fun. Some will be professors and
very helpful. Some will be lifelong and
you can talk about anything with. Some
will be forgotten. It is a fact. But you be you! I know it’s cliché, but YOU BE YOU! We love the You you are!
We love who you are, the way you are, and who you’re
becoming…..everyday…..no matter what.
Even if you incorrectly think you don’t deserve it, we love you. Even when you do nothing, we love you. We
love you no matter what. There may be
moments when we feel extreme pride over your ability to do something awesomely,
or moments when we wish you had chosen differently. But we won’t love you less…..ever. I’d like to think we couldn’t love you more
that we do already. But I am not God nor
do we love perfectly like God. But we love
you and always always will. In fact, we are ever grateful that we have the
opportunity to love you!
You are a gift. We
prayed for your arrival into our lives.
God could have had other plans, but He gave you into our family. He planned you to be a part of our story and
our lives. He purposed your life to
begin and for you to be born exactly when you were because it was part of His
design. It was on purpose you were our child. It was for a reason. Some of which you are yet to discover. Some I hope you can see already. He planned you, He knew you, He formed you,
He loved you, He desired you to know Him, He chose you, and He will always love
and pursue you. The God of all creation makes no mistakes, and He won’t ever
make any. He loves you perfectly. Will
never love you less and cannot love you more no matter what. His love is Agape love which means it goes beyond
emotion, beyond circumstance, beyond feelings.
It is a covenant love of a perfect Creator for His Creation, YOU!
God’s purpose for you is eternal, and it is also daily. Every day God is working in the details of
your life. His purpose might be hard to understand. After all, if He’s in charge of every little
detail, then why do so many difficult things happen? Because while He is over
all and in charge of the ultimate universe, He doesn’t TAKE charge of you or
your life. The same goes for every human. He won’t force anyone to choose Him or to
choose right or to choose good. This is
why there is evil, suffering, difficulties, disasters, crime and death. (And mosquitos and annoying drivers J)
All Mankind gets the gift to choose God. Many do not. This is the consequence of sin in the world
and creates havoc of many lives. My
utmost desire is for you to choose God! Choose His Way. The entire Bible is the true story of God
giving perfect love and man rejecting it time and time again. The greats, the ones who accomplished
momentous feats, the ones humans consider the Saints or the Heroes of history
were those who recognized God is Sovereign and they accepted His Way. Don’t
reject the truth. Don’t miss this,
Son.
God’s purpose for your being on earth is summed up in one
verse I like from Micah 6:8. He has shown you, O mortal, what is
good. And what he requires of you…To act
justly. To love mercy. And to walk humbly with your God. Where you
go to school, where you work, where you live….these are trivial. Though up to this point have been major
decisions in your young life. The real
stuff, the major platform you should practice everyday, and that truly matters
as a man on this planet is HOW YOU ACT TOWARDS EVERYONE ELSE on this
planet. If you become a scientist, so be
it. If you live in Alabama or Quebec or
Montenegro, so be it. If you become bed-ridden, so be it. The
road you take to get from here to there doesn’t define you. The destination
doesn’t even define you. (Unless you
find yourself in Heaven) The journey will influence you but it isn’t you. All that really counts is how you treat
others, namely God and man. These are
the defining decisions you will face.
The 10 Commandments are summed up in a simple outline: How you relate to God and How you relate to
others. These are the keys to the good
life. I know it’s not that simple, so God is there for the everyday too. He gives us each other to help us with the
practical stuff. And he puts us in the
middle of sometimes hard stuff because He sees the bigger picture. He sees who needs your perspective, your
experiences, your sympathy, your encouragement, and sometimes your forgiveness.
Any you’ll need theirs too.
College is about discovering yourself, they say. It’s about learning who you really are. But no campus can define that for you, no
community can create you anew. Only God
can and did that! You are who God says
you are and if there’s doubt about who that is, seek Him. Read His love letter to you. Read the manual. And seek godly advice when the manual needs
interpreting!
Don’t fear failure. Learn from mistakes. In fact, make lots of mistakes and then
you’ll learn how to do it the right way next time. Don’t be afraid to ask when you don’t know. No one I know knows everything, but there’s
always a solution out there. You just
haven’t found it yet. The next person
you ask may have a solution you hadn’t considered yet! And remember, Ask or the answer is always
going to be “No”!
And when the situation is just so very difficult. When it is foggy and you can’t see the
way. If you’re in need of clarity to
light the way because life is tough right now, what will you do? Will you shake your fist towards heaven and
kick and scream? Will you mumble under
your breath and complain that this isn’t fun or fair or what you wanted or what
you agreed to….You may want to. Will you give up the fight and say forget about
everyone else? Will you decide you are
number 1 and nothing else matters?
Because that decision will have to be made, maybe often. Decide this day whom you will serve!
Remember, men were not born perfect and Godly men weren’t
made in a day. It was the result of
daily choices and leaning on God’s strength and living with a purpose. It’s
about getting back up and turning around when you mistakenly chose the wrong
path. This life is about God and
others. It’s not about us. It’s really not. For God it is, but we are not God so we need
His help to become who we are meant to be.
It is a process and a journey. It
is the big picture and we are but a dot.
You are one of our favorite dots, Bud!
We are so thankful to know you and help you in this lifetime. A parent’s legacy is to be able to help their
children long after life on earth ends. Our wish is that you remember what you
learned from us and that it somehow helps you on your journey to follow after
God.
Your adult life is
just starting but so is your own legacy.
Everyone you meet you will rub. I
hope you can learn to be soft when it’s needed and tough when it’s required. Be strong when you face good or bad and be
gentle when someone needs it. We pray for your safety and for your heart to
grow. We pray for you to learn how to
rely on God better and better, closer and closer. We pray your mistakes are lessons
and your successes are opportunities to thank the God who made you. And I pray you submit to God in all your
ways, so you can see Him make your path straight!
Love you Always and Always, No Matter What, Because You are
You!
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