An Open Letter of Thanks to Mum and Dad

Dear Mum (and Dad),

Do you know what today marks? I'm sure you do. It’s actually a day to celebrate. It marks the sixth anniversary of the horrendous phone call I made to you from the main bedroom at Port Royal Drive to ask if I could move in as my then marriage evaporated before our eyes, much to the shock and utter disappointment of you both, the family, the kids and I.

I recall that moment as if it were yesterday. It was a horrible time... too raw to even contemplate perhaps, as a world of uncertainty and emotional and spiritual dearth surrounded us all. But the cherishable fact is this: in that abyss I can now see the heights of God’s eternal plan—a plan that is still very incomprehensible. Yet, indeed I celebrate as although I see “through a glass, darkly”—an “imperfect perception of reality,” I do have a real view, certainly with regard to your love, all the same.

I celebrate your undying strength and devotion to pick up a mortally wounded mid-thirties son and support him safely through the period, augmenting (with God) a recovery and a hope unprecedented in his personal history. At such a difficult time, God makes it even more profound by scourging another family member (Dad) with a physical ailment that broke us more than once—to the glory of the Father as we fell together. Not did these events create division—they created a wonderfully bonding unity, to the strength, honour and blessing of our entire family. And we continue to enjoy this blessing unfurled as we live our lives today and into our collective tomorrows.

Whether we survive for just today, tomorrow or for two weeks time, or for two or more decades, we will always have that very profound time to venture back to, as in an oral tradition that propounds our family’s identity.

My God is a God of wonderful revelation. He creates “coincidences” for us to marvel at. In the dozens upon dozens of “coincidences” since those dark days and beyond, we see but a bond of love that enshrines and unifies us; a bond we have in the eternal realm. A bond we will get to take with us into our eternities.

For your faithfulness to your son, there are a great many incalculable blessings, many you and I will not know until the end. God is not only great, he’s GOOD also. For the love you showed me and the strength of hope you demonstrated—even when there was no strength left—I am eternally indebted to you both.

And my ministry, which I am called for in God, is forever dedicated to you, as I too become the strength of hope (in God) for others (any other) who finds themselves in such dire personal circumstances. And any of the glory for these acts will not only go to God, but to you both also—in the eternal realm!

You both are my cherished inspiration.

My love always

Steven.