Old Things R New

My Take

DiVoran Lites

A few years ago, a tall handsome young man we knew, we’ll call him Dexter, wanted some help writing a letter to his dad. The young man was sixteen years old. He had a good guardian, but he wanted to write a real letter to his real dad who was in prison.

He was in band that year and had vowed to make straight A grades. He wanted to catch up by taking online classes so he could graduate with his class. I don’t’ think he’d seen his father since he was a small child. Dexter had no money. He had no way to get to the post-office. Since we believe in teaching self-reliance, we didn’t automatically help out. But by the time a month had passed and he still had no stamp, we broke down and gave him one.

I really don’t know whether his dad got the letter or whether Dexter got a reply. I do know that the boy dropped out of school his senior year, left his stand-in father and mother’s home, and got a job at a fast food restaurant. This spring somehow, miraculously, he graduated from his class and his mother who has also been in prison was there to see him do it. Not his dad, though, I think he’s a lifer.

It wasn’t easy for his guardians to rear him and his sister, they have other children of their own. But what hope it brings to the whole world just to hear this one success story. The sister is doing well in school and plans to enter the military as soon as she graduates. Both of the young people have developed good common sense and the Lord is on their side. No matter how bad things look at first there’s always hope.

What are you praying for that may look a bit iffy right now?

Tags: Christian bloggers, Christianity, Education, Family, Foster Care, God, Parenting, Prison