a letter...

…The last two years we haven’t talked very much. I went to school, and you went to ALERT, then to the firefighting academy, etc. You’ve learned a lot of things, both about God and about how our generation talks, jokes and lives in this world. I saw the northern lights in Michigan, went skiing in a town with 30 foot drifts of snow where you could not even see what gas station you were turning into, and watched the snowmobiles fill up at the other pumps around me. I went car sledding in Indiana until I thought one of my friends had died, and soaked in the smell of Lake Michigan on the Navy Pier in Chicago. We went camping in Kentucky, watched the world’s toughest rodeo featuring 8 PBR bull riders and Whiskey Falls in concert, coached and chaplained a soccer team, stayed up and stayed out all night, and graduated from college in two years.

If I stayed up too late on Saturday, no one could make me go to church on Sunday. Sometimes I did not study for my 8a.m. final until the day before. I know that WTAMU will be a lot different than Verity was. Nobody cares if you drink, cuss, are irresponsible or have sex with your girlfriend. At Verity, things were kept secret; there, it probably will not be. It is okay to be crazy and even irresponsible in some areas (like our car sledding…) but know what you believe and what lines you WILL NOT cross. If all of your friends are doing “it,” it might be time to find new friends.

Read your bible. Sometimes God will be the only ONE that comes through for you. Go to church at least on Sundays, and get to know the older people there. Keep food in your room. Memorize Scripture. I always thought that was just some stupid thing Mr. G talked about, but my scores went up 17 points when I finally tried it.

Call Mom and Dad. I didn’t at first, but it sure helps. If anything ever happens, they can back you up.

If you run low on money, cut back on dipping.

Know a computer geek because they can help when yours goes off the deep end. Or call me.

I know you know all of this, and think I’m just giving advice, but I’m writing this, I guess, because I didn’t do all of it. But as I went through school, I learned, and so I want to tell you.
Choose your friends wisely. If you pick good ones, they will be honest, back you up, know when to study and when to not, help you study, and keep you going. Don’t get in stupid contests with other guys – pick your fights. Old spice deoderent smells the best, and it’s not too expensive – just saying! Most of all, make your relationship with God your own.

This summer was the first time I’d been home when you were gone and you were missed. No one to go see Aaron Watson or a rodeo with. If you have papers you need edited, email them to me. Call sometimes and if you ever say I can come up and visit, I will. At any rate, I will come to your graduation, even though you didn’t come to mine.

These verses meant a lot to me while I was at school. Maybe someday they will help you keep going, or you’ll find your own.
love, Heather

Let not steadfast love (GOD) and faithfulness forsake you, bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your hear. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Prov 3:3-4

for english class…
Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle…. Psalms 144:1

when it seems pointless…
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. (4) Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (5) Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He WILL act…(7) Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way…(9) for those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. Psalms 37:3-9

if you feel like you’ve lost…read Job.
“And the Lord restored the forunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as He had before.
Do you love the GIVER of good gifts more than the gifts?

The Character and love of GOd:
If God is for us, who can be against us? romans 8:31

YOU: Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy…ready for every good work. II Tim 2:21-22