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Letter from Earnest – August 2018

In the last letter that I wrote you, we were approaching Father’s Day. I talked to you about the void that I had experienced in my personal life, of not having the love of a father, grandfather, or even an uncle. When I talk about that, it always makes me look at my own life with a sense of wonder. You see, although no man claimed me, somebody definitely took an interest in me, and before I knew the detriment that a life of fatherlessness could produce, God had already stepped in to fill the void.

You’re wondering what I mean. I hear a lot of people talk about when they first believed in God. I personally cannot tell you of a time when I didn’t believe. Very early in my life God started to make Himself known to me, and my mother would tell you that He even spoke to me from time to time. I was used by Him to give her encouragement or to challenge her to make different choices. Much of this happened when I was no more that 4 or 5 years of age, and much of it I can’t even remember.

So while I have biologically lived my life without a father, I have not been neglected. I have also figured this out; that while God wasn’t responsible for me being born out of wedlock with the lack of identity, He made a plan for my life so that my unfortunate experiences and His council and guidance through it would allow me to have a heart for kids who are very much like me.

You would not believe the number of boys who have said to me over the years “You understand, Mr. Earnest,” and I can say, “Yes I do.” Then I tell them why I no longer live in the ghetto, I am no longer illiterate, why I no longer wrestle with low self-esteem, and that I am not angry with anyone. I have a Father who cares, and He is as real to me as any boy who at the end of the day will hear his father walking through the door calling out his name.

Please know that whatever misfortune you have been subjected too or deficit that you think that you are operating under, what you have learned from it should be shared with those coming after you, so they too will know that they have always had a Father who cares.

In closing, please pray for us. Please take notice of a child and say something kind to them. And if you can, please give. The summer giving has been very lean, but thankfully, I have a Father who cares.

You have my love,

Your brother, Earnest