Our son was 19 when he left home and we felt exactly as you do. Though he did struggle for awhile . . and though we did help him quietly from the sidelines once or twice . . he is now 30 years old and is happily married and has a great job history for the last 7 years. Many times I would sneak into his apartment while he was at work under the pretense of gratuitously cleaning . . washing filthy sheets . . getting his laundry caught up . . and quietly and without fanfare, carting liquor bottles and beer cans to the trash can. I never openly confronted him about his sloppy lifestyle, mostly because I didn’t feel compelled to do more than PRAY PRAY PRAY. During those hours alone in his apartment, I would heartbrokenly appeal to God for my son. I felt defeated every time I opened the door to that little apartment and saw the total disarray of a life that I felt was in danger. And every single time I closed the door behind a sparkling clean environment for ‘my boy’ . . I had the inherent and heartfelt assurance that my son was also ‘God’s boy’. Each and every time, God gave this hurting Mother a determination to not give up . . to not preach to him or confront him . . but to pray quietly, continue to love him unconditionally, to always believe that ‘our boy’ would not be defeated by Satan’s power. I always left feeling God’s Presence had somehow been restored to that little apartment that Satan had claimed as his own. I wish I could tell you that it didn’t take long . . but it did take years before our son finally matured enough . . found the right girl . . and most important of all . . he found his way back to God. Of course, that wasn’t hard for him, because a Mother’s prayers had helped to keep God’s Presence in our son’s environment. I am empathetic with your heartbreak . . but there is hope on the horizon because God is more transforming than is Satan. The Bible is so true when we parents have the reassurance that if we raise our kids in the right way . . when they are old they will not depart from it. I will pray for you and your son. Please keep us aware of his progress and please feel free to private message me if you feel the need to ‘talk’ at any time.
Yours is a sweet, honest and precious encouragement letter!
What a wonderful Mother you are :-)
If only everyone had such a Mother as you......
Tears
great testimony. thank you...we have 2 in their early 20’s and struggle with how to help them find their way. Prayers, prayers, and more prayers. thank you.
Wow, I had to brush away a tear.