If any of you the have read my past letters you will know my biggest fear was that one day I would receive a call about my son in Ohio who is hooked on drugs.
Today I got that call. The police are looking for him for stealing to support that bad thing called addiction.
I think this is the next to the worst call a parent can get, except a call saying they were found dead. I have spent the past hours pondering where I went wrong as a parent. I really believe the biggest mistake I made was not raising him in church like my mother did me. I didn”t raise him to know that someone loves and cares for him and there is something that will make you feel way better then drugs or alcohol and that is God”s love and to see prayers answered.
Friends, I have learned this lesson too late, but I pray by sharing this I might be able to save some of you the heartache I am feeling tonight. I believe without a shadow of a doubt that a lot of this country”s problems are in the home. Parents are not doing what our parents did and raise their kids in the church.
We are too busy trying to make a name for ourselves or trying to please ourselves to worry how our kids are going to turn out.
We can blame the doctors, the hospitals, the drug dealers and yes, some of it is their fault. At the end of the day we must stand and look ourselves in the mirror and ask “have I really been a good teacher and example for my children?”
Sundays used to be a holy day when few stores were open. Churches were filled with families, not just children or adults while the children were out doing their own thing. Lake County isn”t known for our love of God, our respect for the law or our hard work.
It”s known for the drug addiction and the crimes that go along with it. Is that what we want for our children and our county? Parents, we need to wake up and stand up to the plate and do what God says we should do by raising our children up in the Lord. It”s too late for my son, but not for yours. I pray you wake up before you get that dreadful call only maybe you will get a worse call. Let”s be the ones to turn this county and country back to something we can be proud of. God bless and please remember me in your prayers.
Paul Hysell
Lakeport
