Son & Daughter; Christmas is near!
Son & Daughter,
Christmas is nearly upon us once again. This is a special time of the year where we celebrate the birth of our savior who is Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. We take a moment to celebrate the birth of God’s only begotten son, the only man to ever live a life without sin on this earth, the one who has power over death, and was resurrected from his tomb. The one who can forgive us of our trespasses and sins, if we but turn to him and allow him to heal our hearts and minds.
We have traditions to celebrate Christmas, and I wish to explain and remind why. Our Christmas tree because it does not die or fade away or lose its needles in the winter, symbolizes the immortality of the resurrected Christ. The lights on the Christmas tree symbolize the self-giving love and gift of life to us from Christ. The ball ornaments on our tree represent the fruit from the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. The star on top of the tree symbolizes the star of David, which declared to all the world that our Savior had been born. Our nativity, which reminds us of the lowly conditions in which our savior was born to this earth, there was no room in the Inn, so he was born in a stable, and used a manger instead of a crib for a bed. The gifts we give each other represent the self-less love of the wise men recognized Christ was their king, and who traveled from afar to give gifts to him.
Son, Daughter, I pray that you both might find room in your hearts to let Christ in throughout your life. I pray that you will remember the symbolism behind the Christmas decorations, and that you will rejoice in knowing that our savior came to this earth for us. For a moment I pray that we might have peace in the world if only for a moment while we all celebrate the birth of Christ once again this year.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Christ, Christmas, Daughter, God, Son and tagged Christ, Christmas, Daughter, God, Love, Sonwith comments disabled.
Daughter, seek the light!
There will be times in your life when the lights are dim, almost completely dark, when it’s hard to see just a few inches in front of you. At times like these you will find many who may try to blindfold you still, even though it’s hard enough to see already. They would lead you blindly in places it is better to never travel.
Daughter if you ever find yourself in such a time as this, you will need only pray for light. It will come, maybe not when you want, maybe not when you think it should, but it will come, and when it does, you will see it comes at exactly the time you really need it, no sooner or later. Light is truth, and lies are darkness, that which you seek will fill your life, and shine through your soul.
Remember Daughter, a life of faith will be rewarded with the light of truth from Christ, and it will come at the time that is right for you, and for God’s plan for you. If you need further strength while waiting, just have faith, in God, in your mother, in me, we are all here for you.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Christ, Courage, Daughter, God, Light and tagged Christ, Dark, Daughter, Faith, God, Light, Love, Soul, Truthwith comments disabled.
Son, take courage!
Son,
There will be many times in your life when you are discouraged, afraid for the future, and hope seems dim. You may have others around you spreading dissent and feeding into your fears.
When those times come, if you remember nothing else, then remember this: fear is a paralyzer, fear will hold you back and keep you down if you allow it. When it is dark, I encourage you to look at the Green Lantern, his example of pushing aside fear and finding courage which gives him great power. Even when it seems there is no room for hope, there is.
Son, take heart and find courage, it is always deep within you somewhere. Pull out the light of courage when it is dark, and chase your fears to the shadows where they belong. There your fears will have no more power over you, than an ant squished beneath your shoe.
Remember son, the light of courage brings hope, hope brings possibilities, possibilities bring opportunities, opportunities allow you to help those around you, and you will have no greater joy than in helping others.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Courage, Fear, Green Lantern, Son and tagged Courage, Dark, dissent, Fear, Green Lantern, Help, Hope, Joy, Love, Potential, Power, Service, Sonwith comments disabled.
Daughter, continue being assertive!
Daughter,
You are determined to participate, and I greatly admire that. While we were getting ready to carve out pumpkins you made sure we knew that you wanted to be right where you could see what we were doing and be part of the family activity.
Daughter this assertiveness is a great trait to have, a skill that will help you succeed in life with many things, a skill that many will admire by watching you in the act of being bold. This is also something that I have struggled with greatly for the majority of my life, and have only in the last few years become better at using this tactic. This particular skill has made a world of difference for me, and as such I want you to know just how important this skill is.
If you learn nothing else, learn to be bold, assertive, and to speak your mind. It will sometimes come at the cost of being misunderstood by those who read what isn’t there between the lines, those who hear but do not listen fully, and those who would find fault where there is none. Despite those problems, it is absolutely worth it, and in time those whom are close to you will better understand that you mean what you say, nothing more or less. You will have the benefits of not suffering through being silent but speaking up when you need to, not making the mistaken assumption that others can read your mind but letting them know exactly where you stand.
Daughter, to be assertive, is to taste of freedom, and freedom is worth the cost.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Daughter and tagged Assertive, Bold, Choice, Daughter, Freedom, Love, Potentialwith comments disabled.
Son, football dinner date.
Son,
It was great to spend some time with you, just the two of us. I had a great time taking you out to dinner at Iggy’s to watch some football while eating dinner and really mostly spending time with just you. It was fun spending time with you while you were observing everything around you, fans on the ceiling, the football game on the screen, and enjoying the food that we ordered.
Son, I want you to know that we will keep going on adventures together, because I want you to know how important that you are to me, and I want you to grow up knowing that I am there to help and support you as necessary. Son I want you to know that there will always be someone that cares about you no matter what challenges you are facing. Let us enjoy the time we have now, and in the future together, it is the journey together that matters most.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Son and tagged Dinner, Father, Football, Important, Love, Son, Timewith comments disabled.
Daughter, be like Batman.
Daughter,
You are a remarkable individual, one with a great aura of happiness that surrounds you, one that can brighten the day of anyone who is around you. This is a great strength that few possess, and I encourage you to exercise it over time to the benefit of everyone that knows you.
I have also noticed that you have a very determined spirit. You know when you want to be in bed for the night, when you want to see our faces, when you want to eat, when you just want to be held, and you make sure that we know which of those things you want. Like Batman, you also do not give up easily; this is a great strength to have, one you should never lose sight of. There will be many voices that you will encounter throughout your life that will try and persuade you to take the easy path, that some things are just too difficult, and to just give up now, do not listen to them. Do not allow the weakness of others to overtake your happiness. Do not let their weakness influence you to give up what you want and know you can work to achieve. Be like Batman and ignore those who tell you it is impossible, and achieve your goals and dreams any way.
Daughter you have a father that will listen and help guide you through those voices if you only ask. You are blessed to have a father on earth that loves and cares deeply for you. Even more importantly you have a father in heaven, our God, who loves and cares deeply for both of us. And I pray that through his help and guidance to teach you and lead you to grow and become the best person that you can.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Daughter and tagged Batman, Daughter, Father, God, Happy, Love, Potential, Spirit, Strength, Voices, Weaknesswith comments disabled.
Daughter, I believe in you!
Daughter,
I remember after I got home today when we had a few minutes together, you were happy, smiling at me and soaking up all the attention that I gave you. I put you on a blanket on your tummy and let you exercise your neck and arm muscles for a bit. You were enjoying it a lot at first, but after just a few short minutes you started getting upset because you wanted to quit trying. Your muscles were wearing out and you wanted to just give up.
Daughter, as your father I have a responsibility to encourage you when you are ready to give up and don’t want to keep trying. I know you are capable of more than you want to do sometimes, and this simple truth will only continue to manifest itself in more ways as you continue to grow and develop. It’s often appealing to just give up when things start getting harder, that’s the easy way, and it doesn’t allow you to grow and strengthen beyond where you are now.
Daughter, you have the potential to do many great and wonderful things in the future, and I want to help you grow by challenging and encouraging you to do more, when you want to give up. And I will always be there to believe in you, even if you don’t believe in yourself any more.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Daughter and tagged Daughter, Encourage, Happy, Love, Potential, Smilewith comments disabled.
Son, calm the storm.
Son,
I remember getting home today and walking in the door to witness the middle of your tantrum in the kitchen. It seemed like you wanted a snack, but you had graham crackers, and lemonade sitting right there in front of you, however I still do not know why you were upset, or what set you off.
What I do know is that you started to calm down slightly when I came over and picked you up. Then when I was talking calmly to you, asking what you needed, that helped calm your storm. What really calmed you down completely though, was when I just started walking around the house to do what I was going to do any way, while carrying you in one of my arms. After a moment you soon calmed down and seemed content to have your fathers’ attention.
Son, I hope that as you grow up, you will learn to calm yourself down and more effectively communicate what you want, to the benefit of yourself and everyone else around you. I hope you will also look to Christ, as he calmed down the raging storm, so too can you calm down a raging storm in others, and situations around you. I have seen in you the personality the traits of warm, friendly, strong willed, and others looking up to you. The potential, which these traits bring to become a great leader through discipline, living true and correct principles, service, and love, is enormous.
Son, you have the potential to become a great man who does much good, I hope to do my best to teach you to do so. However in the end it will ultimately come down to the choices you make, the paths you take, and my ability to teach you that every choice you make has a consequence, and while you don’t get to pick the consequences, you do get to pick what choices you make.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Son and tagged Calm, Choice, Christ, Consequence, Discipline, God, Love, Potential, Principles, Service, Sonwith comments disabled.
Daughter, keep on smiling
Daughter,
I want you to know that I enjoy coming home from work and seeing that big smile on your face light up, and that sweet little laugh of yours. You have such a happiness that surrounds you and can light up any room, don’t ever lose it. I can tell that you are happy, you enjoy life, and you enjoy our attention, don’t ever change that.
One of the things I hope you learn over time is that while the world can try to drag you down, it is up to you to choose to be happy in any moment, circumstance, and situation. You have the power to choose happiness no matter what external factors are happening around you, it’s not always easy, but it’s always a choice that you have. If you keep on doing what you do now, you’ll do great, and this should come more naturally to you than it does for most.
Daughter, I hope that you learn to use your happiness to lift up, let sunshine into the souls of others around you, and influence them to be better. Look to your mother as an example to learn this lesson, she has this affect on me, and I have become a much better man because of it. She can teach you so many other valuable lessons as you grow up into a young woman, listen to her, confide in her, she is amazing, and will stand with me to be your support and champion in all things that are good.
Daughter, It is my hope that you learn this and many more lessons that I am trying to teach you before you are an adult. I’m trying to teach you how important that you are, how to exercise your God given talents to brighten up the world, while demanding and earning the respect that you so deserve, from yourself as well as everyone else. Daughter I love you.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Daughter and tagged Choice, Daughter, God, Happy, Love, Mother, Smilewith comments disabled.
Son, share your ice cream!
Son,
I want you to know that I enjoy the time we spend together. I appreciate the times that you come over and want to “sit with dad”, even if it is only because I’m eating ice cream, and you know if you’re sitting on my lap, that I will share with you. I will share with you my ice cream, and my time, because I love you. And I hope that someday you will have a son of your own to share ice cream with.
One of the things I want to teach you in life is generosity. It makes sense to me that you need a role model as an example, not someone who merely says “Do what I say, not what I do.” So I hope that you can look up to me as I try to be that role model that you so desperately need. I hope you can look up to me and say to others some day that you noticed I was generous. I hope you notice that I always try to put everyone in our families needs above my own. If I want something I make sure you have what you need before I consider to get it, and then only if it makes sense.
Son, I hope you learn at the appropriate time that part of being a mature adult, is not getting everything you want. Part of it is making sure that you share what God has blessed you with in this life with others around you. I believe that God knows our hearts, he knows who of us really will share, and tends to favor blessing them with more. And I believe that this is the natural order of things because we are to act on his behalf as his hands from time to time, to lift each other up, and as we do so, we will live a rich and fulfilling life.
Son, it is my hope that you learn this among many other lessons I am trying to teach you before you are an adult. I’m trying to teach you how important you are to me, and I know at the same time you are teaching me about how important I am to you. I may say this all of the time to you, it is only because of how important it is for you to know it, Son I love you.
Love,
Your Father
Posted in Son and tagged Generosity, God, Ice cream, Love, Sharing, Sonwith comments disabled.