One day I sent one of these lost teenagers whom I love so much a letter…to let them know I believed in them…and to give encouragement!
Here is the letter! For the privacy of whom I wrote this letter, I have put (insert name),where the name was.
I hope you know how special you are! I’m sorry to hear your having a hard time! I couldn’t stop thinking about you after talking to you because I wish you could see the (insert name) that the rest of us see! I wish you would put your trust in the Lord and let him help you and direct your life…trusting that he can see a bigger picture and that he can assist you to become the most amazing fantastic dad ever!!
I remember being your age! It’s tough!! I literally about went crazy!! I wasn’t following the Lord….or trusting Him! It frustrated me when those I loved and leaned on would tell me to read my scriptures and pray!! I felt like it was a cop out answer…they weren’t really listening or caring!! It took a few years of suffering for me to get to the point where I was willing to try! Test it out! And so I did! I prayed with all my might and turned all my energy into the scriptures! Guess what happened? I found peace and had a new strength and understanding ! I had clearer goals and I was once again walking forward!!
The analogy from Nephi is sooooo true!! I can’t even tell you!! There’s a point in life where we know what direction we need to go! We move in that direction! Then the difficulty of life hits….peer pressure, decisions, loss…you name it… and we feel like we are in a fog! Somehow we put our hands up to try and push through the fog…but we can’t see.. then when we go back to grab the iron rod…it’s missing! We can’t find it! We start to look harder for it but then we hear sounds of what seems to be laughter far off! To have fun and relax is all we can think about…so we turn toward the sounds of cheering! We notice it’s a cliff…with filthy water below! Water we have been warned by the Lord and our parents not to swim in, for we could drown (spiritually)! But as we look over the cliff…it seems a bit adventurous…and those in the building on the other side seem to be having a good time! They all got there by swimming in the filthy water…we think “we can do it too!” Of course we will be smarter..we will dive far out and swim fast so that we are not spending too much time in the filthy water! So we jump!! As we jump…before we even hit the water…we hear the Holy Ghost prompting us to turn and grab the Saviors hand and he will pull us safely back to the path! Curiosity takes over an we just dive in!! the water is warm….and not too bad! We feel a little numb… and our problems fade!! We make it to the building and are welcomed in! But, as we spend more time there we start to feel dark and alone!! What’s missing? People are still laughing and acting as if life is great…but we sense an emptiness in everyone! As we look out the window…the majority of people are jumping in to join this great place!! I yell to them…STOP!! But the cheers of other is too loud!!
Guilt settles in and we don’t feel like we will be accepted back on the path and so we live in a world of fake happiness!!!
Until one day it’s been enough!!
We are going back!!
We jump back in the filthy river to start our journey back! the current is strong.. and we can’t seem to make any progress! We swim harder… we are exhausted!! It would be easier to just drift back to the building! but we are tired of the nothingness that is there! So we fight!!! We even mention a few prayers to help us fight the current!! Slowly we make it back to the cliff!! As we climb up…it’s steep and muddy!! We keep falling further down! We grab at all the branches and that works for while..but then they pull out…and we fall further down!! We can hear our families who are on the path…grab our hands… GRAB THE SAVIORS HAND!! But how?? Then finally somehow we get smart enough to LOOK UP and guess what’s there?? The Savior’s hand!! We grab it and he pulls us up and on the path! He puts the iron rod back in our hand! We realize that he was there all along..waiting fur us to LOOK TO HIM! We are exhausted!! So our recovery is slow..but with correct nourishment… we fully recover and become strong God following people! PEACE AND HOPE FEELS OUR HEARTS!
Try it out (insert name)! Start Praying daily and read your scriptures!! Do the 30 day challenge!! Pray about a problem you need help with or a direction! Ask the Lord how you can get closer to Him! Pour your heart out! Then open the scriptures and read until you get the answer!! Record it!! Do it again…for the next 30 days!! Follow the direction you get with exactness!! I promise you…it will bring you peace and happiness!
Love you (insert name)!
Let those you see struggling know that you love them and you believe in them! 🙂
Here are a couple other post on wayward children:
http://spiritualcrusade.blogspot.com/2017/01/wayward-children-hold-on-to-them-with.html
http://spiritualcrusade.blogspot.com/2017/01/repentant-wayward-children-will-enjoy.html
Recent Comments