Dear Family and Friends April 25, 2006
It has been a while since I have written, so I thought I would drop a letter to let all of you know how I am doing. As most of you know, I have been reunited with my Dad after eighteen years. I just spent a week with him and my brother out in Oklahoma and was able to visit Wichita with his side of the family meeting and seeing my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, and my grandma. The Lord has truly blessed me with the opportunity to build a relationship with my Dad and his family. His family welcomed me with open arms and loving hearts. The love of his family was so strong that I have even considered moving to Wichita to be closer to them and be within driving distance of my Dad. We laughed, we cried, we shared the good and the bad and truly enjoyed each others company, I didn’t want to leave.
Some people might of built up resentments in eighteen years time and not be able to forgive for all of those lost years. My aunt was even surprised in how forgiving both my brother and I were. I told my aunt that we learned from the best and that was Jesus Christ himself, dieing for all of us and forgiving all of us of our wrong doings. He set the best example of how we should treat others in that we all make mistakes and no one is perfect. I like how my brother put it, he said the Lord sometimes takes things away from us and hides them until we are ready and only He knows when we are ready to have them again or to even have them at all. We don’t always know the reasons and sometimes we will never know, but that is where we need to trust God that he knows what’s best for us.
My Dad came to a point in his life where he realized he had made mistakes and asked the Lord to forgive him allowing him to again have a relationship with his first two kids born. I told my Dad that I hadn’t been praying for this day of reuniting, sorry Dad, I just wrote you off years ago. However, there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t pray for my brother, Randy. He is now referred to as Junior, since he is a junior to my Pops or Ranger, what I use to call him when I was little, because I couldn’t say Randy. When my Dad rededicated himself to the Lord and became an honest and righteous man with nothing to hide, nothing to blame on others, and became willing to accept his mistakes is when the Lord blessed him and many others in the process. I am excited about how the Lord can use me in all my new family relationships.
The Lemmon’s family welcomed me and my brother with open hearts. I felt loved and accepted, and not judged in any way. It was almost like a taste of heaven being around a loving family that conjured up these warm feelings. I want to thank the Lord for allowing these relationships to build and thank Him for such a loving family that are now always in my thoughts and prayers. I miss all of my family that I don’t see regularly, but I also realize that I can still build lasting relationships with all of them that can and will continue into heaven for those preparing for that day.
The closer I get to the Lord, the more I realize how important all of our relationships are to Him personally. He wants us to love one another, both our families and our friends. He wants us to be loved, accepted, welcomed, challenged, encouraged, inspired, to be built up, and most of all to learn from one another through fellowship and His word, the Bible. Most of us struggle in our relationships because of things like anger, envy, resentment, jealousy, guilt, shame, blame, and the tendency to judge or point fingers. The Lord Jesus Christ can help us deal with these negative feelings that arise in relationships. As we begin to pray and build a relationship with Him and begin to listen to the Holy Spirit and use its power to manifest peacefulness in all our relationships, it will truly bless all involved, just like it has for my reuniting with my Dad and the Lemmon’s family.
Dear Lord, I just want to thank you for my relationships with family and friends that continue to build. I want to thank you for the loving Lemmon’s family and being able to be reunited with all of them. Thank you, Lord for my answered prayers for my brother Randy. Please allow me to glorify, honor, and praise You in all of my relationships. I realize that I am not perfect, that I do still make mistakes and conjure up negative feelings. Please help me with these weaknesses and allow me to continue to grow spiritually and build relationships that will last into eternity. I say all of this in your holy precious name Jesus Christ, Amen.
Thank you for taking the time to read this far, I hope I haven’t bored you. I just wanted to share with my family and friends how much all of you mean to me and how important all relationships are to our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope this letter finds everyone in good health and in good spirits. I love you all and God Bless.
Tonya
tarmenakis@hotmail.com
www.flywithchrist.blogspot.com
I will never forget that day, just chatting on the lake with my aunt Debbie and getting to know each other. You are one special person in my life aunt Debbie. I miss you and love you!!!
