To My Estranged Child

Estrangement is happening to families, and it hurts deeply. According to Dr. Phil, one in four families is experiencing family estrangement. On top of that, he reports that 70% of family estrangement affects families where the parents are divorced. The following is a poem that was written by a parent who was awakened in the middle of the night because she received these words from the Lord. She said that she wrote this entire poem in a couple of minutes without even having to think through it at all. She was half asleep and it flowed out of her as she quickly noted it into her phone, for fear she would forget it by morning. We were so moved this poem that we wanted to share it with you. Since one in four families is experiencing estrangement, you may be able to relate to it.

Here is a gift from God to a parent we know:

To My Estranged Child

It isn't that I do not care
More than anything I do
But you have told me you need space
If that's what you need it's what I'll do

I know you have your life journey
In the same way I had mine
Just as no one else could walk my walk
Your walk in life is on a different timeline

If you would allow me to support you
In this cold uncaring land
I would do so in a heartbeat
You'd see I understand

What you don't know or won't accept
Is that I was once like you
Full of pain and fear and longing
For someone to see me through

But I rejected those who loved me most
When Satan led me wrong
He robbed me of my family
and being safe where I belong

But in that void was Jesus
Who took my family's place
He taught me not to fear
He showed me mercy, love and grace

Jesus taught me that the devil
was not worth my life or time
Jesus gave me courage
To reclaim the family that was mine

And so dear child
I have set you free
But have not left you alone
I've entrusted you to Jesus
until your searching ends
and it's his will to bring you home

That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt
or that I wish this didn't have to be
But I know that Jesus will protect you and show you love
and someday bring you back to me

(Name withheld)