Two Letters

"Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home." ~ Bill Cosby

I received two letters in the mail this morning. They are both from my stepson. Officially, he is my son because I legally adopted him when he was 3 years old.

Some of my readers may remember that he has led a troubled life. He has been in and out of jail since he was 12. He is now 22. He was involved with the gangs in Kansas City, Ks, and was addicted to drugs and alcohol, burglary, and Grand Theft: Auto. Last summer, he narrowly escaped death or at least, permanent disability when he was shot in the back during commission of a drive by shooting in Kansas City, Kansas. Two teenage girls were killed in the attack and 9 other people were wounded, one of them, my son.

Recently, I received a phone call from him. He told me he was living in a Christian Home for men called Jacobs Ladder. He said he is turning his life around and asked me to pray for him. I received this news with skepticism.

He has told us these things before.

I am publishing the content of the two letters I received from him this morning here. The first was written to his younger brother, the same son who lives with me:

Johnnie,

Hey Bro. What's up? I'm cool, just trying to change my life around. I miss you a lot, man. Sorry for being such a jerk all the time. I hope you know that I love you. You're my only brother and before you came along I was a lonely little kid. Then the day that mom had you I planned on being your best friend...

So how are ya doing? I heard your friend passed away. Tomorrow is not a guarantee. When I got shot this girl died right in front of me. Nobody could do nothing for her. That's just the way it is...messed up.

I hope you will write me back someday, tell me what's going on with you. Don't feel wierd. I should have wrote you before but I was all jacked up and loaded all the time. Sorry, Bro.

Love, Mike

This one was written to me:

Dad,

Hey, what's up? Wish we could have talked some more the other day. I don't get much of a chance to talk to anyone really. All my old hang out spots and playground buddies are all long gone. It's all good, though.

So, you think it's funny I speak in tongues, huh? Well, to each his own, I guess.But the Bible actually does have scriptures encouraging us to do that. I dunno, sometimes I feel like this all isn't right. But I can't discern whether it's the enemy or me. I'm going through...and a renewing process is starting to transform my mind.

Cigarettes stink! Whew, man, I can smell people who smoke now and it grosses me out. I should have listened to you a long time ago but to be honest I still battle with a rebellious spirit.

I'll just try and "stay the course" like you told me to and keep my faith in God and things should get better. I tend to blame others for everything I'm doing wrong but God's dealing with me.

Today, I was giving a Bible study to the men in the home, because the director thinks that I'm called to be a preacher. But I'm not worried about what he says I'm called to do, only what God calls me to do.

But anyway, this one guy wanted to argue with me about scripture and it was so obvious what was going on. Because even when I told him, "Ok you're right! Let's just move on to the next passage instead of wasting time arguing." he still kept going and going then everyone else started saying I had an attitude problem, al kinds of stuff. I never realized how racist things are in the world.

I like being humble, though. I'm not a tough guy. Really, I think God is preparing me for something. Maybe He wants to give me a family of my own.

Will you please pray for me? Thanks for the Lord using us all. Dad, you're a major blessing to my life, whether you were hard on me or not. What you imparted into my life will reach others lives and last forever. Amen in Jesus' name.

Love, Mike.

Well, after reading this, with difficulty, because of the tears that dim my eyes, I can see that although my son has come a long way, and still has much further to go, I am at last convinced that he is finally headed in the right direction.