February 10, 2002
Greetings, dear Shannon!
Love. We seek to become slaves of righteousness because we love our Lord Jesus Christ. We seek to serve Him and His people because we love Him. We love others because we love Him. Oh, Shannon, I love you and miss you so much. The Scripture is filled with references to families, to parents and their sons and daughters, and I am filled with grief that my daughter has been taken away from me. I pray for you every day, and I long for fellowship with you.
God makes no mistakes, and it seems that He gives us certain parents and certain marriage partners so that we can be deliberately sanctified through our interactions with each other over the years. The bond that connects us, dear daughter, is deep and biblical.
Even before we were Christians, I always knew that you belonged to God and not to me, so never felt compelled to control you. I just assumed that we would be together forever. The fact that I can no longer hold your hand and pray with you, take a walk and talk with you, and other such normal things makes me sad because I don't think this is right in God's eyes. Oh, how I wish you would get in touch with me or at least help me understand why you think God does not want you to communicate with Gran, Jason, Ryan, and me. I just don't understand. Do you think I am sinful and will harm you? Of course, I am sinful. I made mistakes as I raised you, and I continue to make mistakes. But love covers a multitude of sins. The Lord forgives. Won't you?
Won't you please come spend a few days with Gran in Texas and me on Capitol Hill and share with us what you've been doing and learning over the past four years? Perhaps you'd like to live on the farm for awhile. How I'd love to take a long, long walk with you along the Potomac or up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We could walk, talk, pray, and worship together.
You know, I love you unconditionally, Shannon. Whoever you are and whatever
you are is between you and God. I'm not going to try to persuade you to
live unbiblically or otherwise compromise your religion. God gave me a mother's
heart that seeks to support and nurture my children according to His guidance.
What can I do for you, dear child?