My son, you recently told me you signed up to automatically receive my blog updates in this e-mail.
Aside from making me feel old, this has had quite an impact on my heart and mind over the last few days.
A few things I want you to know.
1. Go after "the real thing" with all you've got. Life offers an endless list of temptations to settle for less than reality. Your heart and mind will come up with hundreds of excuses why you can ignore what you know to be true. Laziness, ambition, desires all cry out and ask you to compromise so that you can do what you want, when you want. They are liars and deceivers. They will lead you down paths that you regret. Do the hard work, being willing to make the present sacrifices to embrace and pursue reality exactly as it is. Think about the end of the road for those who have deceived themselves into believing things they wanted to believe. Destruction. Think of the end of the road for those who choose to face life head on. Integrity, strength, life, joy. It is not the easy path, but it is the one with the least real suffering, by far, and it is the only one worth living.
2. When you veer from the path, never believe that you are too far to return. As long as you are breathing, there is room for repentance and restoration. Discouragement, self-condemnation and hopelessness are terrible enemies. Always hold on to hope; it is a far more powerful force than most people give it credit for.
3. I tremble at the thought that you watch me and know me so well. I long for what's best for you and know that my life has a large influence on you. I hope I live in a way that you would be pleased to emulate. I will do my best to live authentically and open before you with my faults and victories. I don't always succeed but my life has been about only a few things for the last 20 years, and I hope it will continue to be for what remains.
a. A passionate pursuit of Jesus, my Love and Lord.
b. Passionately helping those I influence to pursue Jesus as their Love and Lord.
- There is so much to say under this point. I will try to be brief. First, this means my wife and then my children and then whoever else God allows me to influence. It is important to keep them in order of priority. Second, this means living as much as I can to be selfless and serve, to live to give and accept Christ's mission as my own, "The Son of Man came not to be served by to serve and to give His life..."
c. An attempt to live authentically and with sincerity, pursing reality and facing it head on.
4. I long for you to love work, to love wisdom , to love Truth, and to love Christ.
5. I love you.
