Growing up, I always desired to have such a strong relationship with all my family members that were my age. I loved to go and play (or hang out once we were older) and just build that relationship with my family. Obviously, as we got older and could discover who we are and we became our own individual people but eventually as we became adults could make our own decisions. I have watched our decision differ and our lifestyles take dramatic different paths.

I want you to know I have seen your struggles. I have seen your darkest moments. I have seen your bad decisions. I have seen you take your family for granted and have even watched your health plummet. I have prayed and prayed that God would bring a realization of your lifestyle into your heart. I have prayed that the decisions you make would not harm you and that you would be protected. I have prayed that someone would help you. And I won’t stop. I will continue to pray for you and pray that God would start a revival in your life.

You have hurt your family in more ways than you know and they have continued to stick by your side through it all. We have never given up on you and have never given up hope on the great person we know you can become. We see in you a potential that you have never seen in yourself. We see the good inside of you even when you don’t see it inside yourself. But you haven’t cared. You have pushed us away and see no wrong in your actions. I want you to know that you have hurt the people that care the most about you. But I also want you to know that we still love you.

We still love you when you choose to make bad decisions and when you choose to run away from life’s problems. We love you when you tell us you hate us or when you call us names. We love you no matter what and there is no changing that. At some point our love for you is going to have to be letting you go so that you can figure out life on your own. And when that day comes, don’t for a second think that we don’t love you.

We see potential in you and we see that you can do great things for this world. We see how smart and beautiful you are. We also see that to find those great things about yourself that you are going to have to venture out on your own. We see that we cannot tell you how to live or change your actions but that is something that you must learn how to do on your own.

While you are figuring out life we want you to know that we are here. When your world is crashing down because of your decisions or when you are in trouble for whatever reason, we want you to know that we are just a phone call away. We are here to help, here to talk, and most importantly here to love you. Don’t give up on yourself because we aren’t giving up on you.

1 John 4:4 “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”