What I Believe - A Letter to My Grown Children

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him.

1 John 3: 1 - 2

That Pastor John… He did it again. His sermon said that we needed to make sure that our children know what we believe. I hope that you, my children, know what I believe, but, just in case, here you go.

• I believe in God, the Father Almighty – and I believe that He made heaven and the earth.

• I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son – who died on a cross so that you and I could live an everlasting life of Grace.

• And I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the heavens – and that you and I will do that, too.

• I believe that one day, I will die. And that you will be sad and that you will cry. But, you will be crying for you – and that’s ok. Because, I believe that no matter how wonderful my life is here, it will be better when I die.

• I believe that I will be with you after I die, in a way that I can’t comprehend on this earth. You are so important to me and I love you so much, that I know that God won’t take me away from you – or take you away from me. In my next life, I will be more a part of your life than I am now.

• I believe that there is no one that we meet by accident. Each person that we cross paths with was intentional. Each person somehow affects us in our life – and we have an effect on them. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not.

• I believe that we should all live to be the best that we can. But we should never put so much pressure on ourselves when we make mistakes. No one is perfect – except God. And because He is perfect, He forgives us and loves us when we are not.

• I believe that prayer is answered. Maybe not immediately. Maybe not the way we want our prayers answered, but answered indeed.

• I believe that our lives are like a big jigsaw puzzle – the kind Gangy used to work by her fireplace. We go through this earth living little pieces of the puzzle. When we are sitting with God, we are able to see how beautifully the puzzle came together. And how all the little celebrations and heartaches fit together perfectly to make this thing called life.

• I believe that God is joyful when we are joyful. When we smile as we talk about Him / when we joyfully work together as His Servants / when we gather as a family and celebrate each other – I think God is happiest then.

• I believe that God loves it when we “Make a Joyful Noise Unto Him”. Whether we are singing, laughing, cheering, or talking, God is there and He loves it when we gather with Him in the midst.

• I believe God likes songs that were written in the 20th and 21st century just fine. I don’t think that all of the great songs were written in the 1700s and before. I think we can sing the newer songs – even at the 11:00 service.

• I believe that you, Tripp and Jenna, had better remember to give Holly that Opal and Diamond ring if you want to have a moment’s peace after I’m gone. She knows where it is – and the diamond and pearl and ruby and sapphire… well those are divided between the other two of you. But you had better make sure that Holly gets the opal and diamond or you will live a very rough life.

• I believe that my life would be unfulfilled without the three of you in it. I can’t even think about that because you are so much of who I am.

• I believe that you know how much I love you. And that you know that I recognize the million and millions of mistakes that I made. The ones that I have forgiven myself for and the ones that I can’t quite forgive myself for. But, I pray that you know that I think you are absolutely perfect – in spite of my mistakes. And I wouldn’t change but one thing about you. That would be to have you live closer to me. That’s it. I wouldn’t change another thing.

• I don’t believe that everyone is perfect. But I believe that you can find good in everyone – if you look hard enough. And I think that is what God wants us to do.

I want you to know what I believe, my children. I want you to know that my life has been so greatly enhanced as I became closer to Christ - Just as your Gangy’s life did.

I want you to be sure to know this: I believe in you! I believe that each of you has special gifts and talents that God gave you. I believe that there is nothing that you cannot do. I really do. I think that you are amazing!!

I want you to know that I am proud of each one of you - prouder than I have ever been about anything.

I want you to know that you will not always be perfect or make all of the right decisions in life, but you can never do anything that will make me not love you.

And I want you to know this. No matter who else comes in your life – you should never, never lose each other. No one on earth has the history together that you have. No one else has the relationship that the three of you have. You will love others in wonderful and different ways, but through that love, never lose each other.

And finally, I want you to know this. You always accuse me of loving the others best, but I want you to know the truth. I want you to know who I really love the best. I love all three of you the very best - all for different reasons because you are all so different, but all the best.

I love you all – more than I love to breathe.

Lord, let my love for you carry through for generations to come. Of all that I have done, Lord, looking at the adults that my children have become gives me the most pride. Thank you, Lord, for being with them when I wasn’t perfect. Amen.