I wrote this in response to my son’s constant questioning of “why can’t I have a computer/cell phone/tablet/laptop/thing-with-a-screen
This letter settled Baby Boy’s questions once and for all.
My Baby Boy,
I know that it seems difficult, and almost a like punishment for a crime that you didn’t commit because I refuse to let you have a phone, or your own computer. I know this is not what you want to hear, but know that this is something that is so important to me because YOU are important to me. Know that I care about you more than anything in the world.
Please let me explain my heart as best I can.
I know that it hurts because you have done nothing but prove over and over again that you will do as we ask, and choose to always do the right thing. I know that you know so much already, even for as young as you are, you have so much knowledge. And I am so proud of you! You have made some remarkable choices in your life!
I want to ask you to trust me, and believe that one day you will be glad that I did not to give you a phone/computer.
I want to take your knowledge and help it grow with WISDOM. I want to impart wisdom into your heart. I want wisdom to be so ingrained into your heart, that when your friends come asking you for help, I want you to be able to know EXACTLY HOW to help them. When I was a teenager, and my friends came to me for help, I had no idea how to help them. I couldn’t help them. Some of them are lost forever.
I wish I knew what I know now and could teach it to my younger self.
I want you to be able to see the world around you, and be able to give what you have to offer: hope. I see so many young people today so lost in a world on their phones, that they never see the people around them. I know that YOU were born to stand OUT. I know that God has an anointing over your life, and has called you to be a leader to your generation.
I believe that you won’t be a kid who is lost on their phone- but be the one to offer HOPE and LIFE to the people who ARE lost. The journey you are on isn’t an easy one. It calls you to be above the status quo. It requires that you learn everything you possibly can so that you can offer excellence in all you do. It requires sacrifice, but I promise you, the reward you will find will be a million times more amazing than a cell phone will ever fulfill.
And before I can give you a cell phone, there is so much I want to teach you, still.
I want to teach you to be able to spot sin in an INSTANT, and have the knowledge to flee from it before it even comes across your path.
Because it will.
Sin has a way of finding us even when we don’t go looking for it. This has NOTHING to do with your past, or where you came from and EVERYTHING to do with the evil of this world, the weaknesses of our own flesh, and the enemy of our souls. satan kicks us when we are down; and I want you to be prepared for that kick with the best armor possible in this world that I could give you.
I wish I could tell you how many friends, GREAT friends, (friends that I’ve considered STRONGER than I am in their walk with God) have fallen, because they thought they were strong enough to handle temptation and walk away. One little peak at pornography. One little taste of a drug. One lingering thought that seemed OK at the time.
Marriages lost, affairs, teen pregnancies, diseases, addictions; all because in a moment of weakness, they thought they could handle it.
The biggest concern we should have in life is in thinking that we’re strong enough to handle temptation when hit at the wrong time: that one time in our moment of weakness. I want to teach you to recognize your weaknesses.
If you think I am thinking badly of you, or being insulting by comparing you to other people or saying you have weaknesses, this is NOT the case! This isn’t about something you’ve done (you’re an amazing kid by the way!). This is what the BIBLE teaches us; that we all have weaknesses and the enemy will use whatever those weaknesses are to cause us ALL to fall (including me!). The only thing that puts the differences between me and my friends who have fallen is that I don’t ever want to think that I am so strong that I can exclude myself from falling into the temptation of sin.
If I was to think I could never fall into the temptation of sin, I would be in trouble. (This is how many of my friends got in trouble.) It is this knowledge that makes me flee from sin as fast and as far as I can, and run to God even faster. Not acknowledging that sin will be a temptation would be one of the gravest dangers one could come to believe. The Bible teaches to always be aware of the darts the enemy throws our way, and be aware of own our weaknesses.
By the way, there is nothing wrong with having weaknesses! YES, you have them, and I have them. It’s when you acknowledge that you have them, you can begin to fight, and allow God to help you with them, and know exactly what areas to “flee from.” (the Bible tells us to flee from the very appearance of sin- how can we know where to flee from if we do not recognize our weaknesses first?)
I want to teach you what my friends did not know, or seemed to have forgotten when they fell into sin, that no matter how strong you ARE, it’s not about being strong, it’s about fleeing from even the “very APPEARANCE” of what could potentially be sin, by making simple right choices, day after day. Simple, right thoughts, day after day.
Most often, by the time someone has ruined their life with sin, it’s not because they made one BIG choice all at once; but it’s because they started with one SIMPLE THOUGHT a very long time ago.
I must teach you that our THOUGHTS (our minds) are almost always where temptation starts. I want to teach you how to find the “right thoughts”, focus on faith, and getting rid of thoughts that tell you to give in, or give up. I must teach you how to find balance and not jump to extremes. I must teach you to fight temptation in your mind for the little things. Fighting temptation starts with rejecting wrong thoughts.
Remember, being tempted is NOT a sin. Jesus was tempted! I want you to prepare you for the temptation you will face as you grow into a man. The Bible promises us that we WILL face it. But the good news is that God promises there will always be a way OUT of temptation.
You are an amazing student, and you have come so far, so quickly. I have no doubt we will get there. Please be patient with me as I teach you, and please be patient with yourself.
You are one of the most important people in the world to me, and I am going to do everything I can to prepare you for the war the enemy wages on our minds and most importantly, our souls.
Every time I look at you, I can see your life overflowing with potential, and purpose. I can not wait to see all that God has for your life.
I love you with all my heart and I always will.
Love, Mom
Author Anne Day 