Dear Dad

Dear Dad,
    
     It probably seems wierd to be getting a letter from me.  I was just going to call but I felt these words would be better said in a letter. 

     Thank you!  Evaluating life over the last few years a couple of times I have strongly felt the need to thank you and I have pushed it aside for later or have been able to say little thank you's on the phone.  But this letter is not for the little thank you's, which there are a lot of, but it is for the one that I feel is a huge thank you.

"...A man reaps what he sows."  Galatians 6:7

     There is something I very much respect and appreciate about you and that is the desire you have had to not fall into the cycle of sin your father was in.  You never complained or dishonored your parents in anyway to me.  You only made it known that there was a problem with alcohol and abuse and that you would never drink.

     Now here is what I see and have seen as I look on.  Because it is just my looking on there may be things I am wrong on and if so I apologize and will gladly recieve correction.  The way I have seen things has also changed as I have grown and God has taken hold of my heart.  I see my dad, a man determined in his own strength to not commit the sins of his father, which he didn't.  But because it was in his own strength there were other areas in which he struggled.  But his story does not end there.  Somewhere along the line I think he recognized this, that in his own strength he would just move from one cycle of sin to the other and he turned to Christ.  A Savior that had always been right there with him, waiting for his wall of pride to drop enough to let Christ be not only his Savior but his Deliverer. 

     And this is where "A man reaps what he sows" comes in.  I too, your daughter, had things in my childhood that I was determined not to be sin in my life.  In my own strength I set off with my sidekick savior, Jesus and my pride walled up around me.  But Jesus wouldn't stay a sidekick for long.  He quickly became my Deliverer and seems to constantly be delivering me from myself (most of the time:). 

     From a distance you may recognize that but I wanted to say it.  And I want you to know that though there has been some consequences of sin the beauty of what God has done is greater than any of those consequences.  You were put on a path worn down and ready to be followed.  A path that led to more and more bondage.  A path that would lead your children generation after generation into more and more bondage.  But you chose differently.  You let your Savior be your Deliverer.  You created a new path for me to follow. 

I love you! And for myself, your grandchildren, and for every generation that follows I want to say thank you.  Thank you for turning to the One who cannot only save but deliver us from bondage.  Thank you for your example, the start of a new path, and your love.

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God: he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."  Deuteronomy 7:9

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I share this personal letter that I wrote to my dad to encourage you.  I know some of you are making that new path for your children and grandchildren to follow and it is not easy but when God is in it, it will be beautiful!  Don't stop, do not give up!