Dear Azy, Rumi, and Ari,
I decided I’m going to journal during this period of my life as a letter format for a few reasons 1) It motivates me to write 2) It allows me to feel connected and closer to you. And since I can’t be there in person, this year will be well documented. 3) I know you two probably won’t remember any of this because you’re so young. And I know that’s a blessing. So I want to document those stories and lessons Daddy is having so they can serve all of us as a family. Hopefully, you can also look back at this time and read all these stories and realize no matter how far away Daddy is, he is still thinking about you and your mommy.
Let’s begin. So the place where daddy is styaing really isn’t that bad. Most people go to prison and it’s behind locked bars. They don’t get to go outside and they have to ask guards for permission. Daddy is at a place called camp. And the best way I can describe it is it’s similar to when you go to summer camp. You’re in a building with a lot of other kids you haven’t met. There are activities, classes, and TV, where you learn stuff and games that keep you busy most of the day. You can can come and go outside as much as you please and the guards only check on everyone twice a day to make sure none of the kids have run away. And you get served 3 meals a day in the cafeteria at certain time of the day each day. So, imagine that, but Daddy is with adults. And instead of summer, daddy is here a while longer. When that timing will be when he gets to go home is based on how many activities and classes Daddy does while being at camp. And God because ultimately he gets to make the final decision.
As far as the daddy’s room here, there’s bunk beds on each side of the room. They’re about 12X12 with two people per room. We each get a locker to store our personal stuff. There’s a big opening on the wall where you exit the room that’s about 2 door sizes. But no doors. On the opposite side of the room there’s another room that looks exactly the same with a hallway that divides up the two rooms. That hallway is about 30 rooms. And there are four hallways in the building. We have common areas for restrooms, showers, cafeteria, TV room, computer room, chapel, and visitation room where you and mommy will visit.
There’s also a weight room and a track which daddy is very happy about because he gets to workout and walk, two of his favorite activities. And right now it’s cold outside but when the weather is good, they’ll have pickle ball court, softball, and handball courts for more activities.
Now for the first two weeks. Let’s start with the people at the camp Daddy is meeting. First, there’s daddy’s roommate. His name is Alex too, but we call him Alejandro because he’s from Mexico. He’s 46 years old and has 3 kids. His family owns a convenient store. His son runs it now with Alejandor’s wife. He started eight years ago and through hard work and God’s blessing, he was able to open up a second location. He moved from Connecticut to this camp which is closer to his family in Texas, which makes them very happy because they can come visit. Alejandro is a good man. He’s been away from his family for over six years and may have another 3-5 years here before he can go home. But he has an incredible amount of faith. Then there’s Jon. Jon is 45 years old and has 5 kids. He was a banker and will probably be here 8-10 months. Alejandro, Jon, and daddy all got to the camp at the same time so we became friends. Jon and Alejandro wanted to get back in shape and be able to use this time to be productive. So daddy has been training them on how to life weights and nutrition. So far daddy hasn’t killed them. 🙂 While others who got here working out with others were sore and didn’t want to workout again, Alejandro has been able to workout consistently over the last two weeks.
Here’s the lesson: when you haven’t done something before or in a long time, start out light. This allows you to win and that gets people excited because they want to win more. It’s not about what you do once twice or even three times, but what you do consistently. Alejandro especially has been walking the track with Daddy. He’s feeling great and has a goal of going from 250 lbs. to Daddy’s weight of over 210 lbs. before he leaves camp. Also, Jon came only a few times but isn’t consistent. So he doesn’t get all the benefits that Alejandro is getting. So when you start something, start with a goal you can accomplish. We call it a win goal. Then you’ll be excited to do it more and will become consistent at it.
Next, we have Ron. He’s 76, used to do real estate, has a wife and several grandchildren. Ron has been at camp for a long time and will be here until end of this year, God willing. You see, everyone who comes to this camp has made a mistake in their lives. They broke the law. Now they have to be here away from their families as a way of being punished for what they’ve done. Unlike your summer camp, they can’t go home when they want. They have to be here based on whatever the Judge decided. By doing the classes and activities, they get a chance to show they made a mistake and have learned from it. And they get to go home sooner then what the Judge says. Sometimes less than half the time. For example, your daddy would have to be at camp for 36 months, but if he does the classes and activities and shares what he learns, it could only be 18 months before he can come back to you and mommy.
So there are several lessons here. If you break the law, be ready to pay for the consequences. It’s the same with God. If you sin or do something wrong, you might get into trouble and have to deal with the punishment of what you did. Second, it’s okay to make mistakes. We all do. We’re human. The key is when you make a mistake, you learn something from it and don’t do it again. Daddy has learned a lot from making mistakes that got him to be at camp. The biggest lesson Daddy has learned is when daddy is struggling, to talk to God about it. Pray and ask him to guide daddy on what to do next. You see, Daddy had forgotten that God has always been with him his whole life. Watching out over him wherever he goes. When daddy was a kid, he used to always talk to God about his problems and pray what to do next. And God used to comfort Daddy, letting him know he was always there and listen to him. But as daddy grew up, he tried to do everything by himself. The more things he tried to do by himself, without talking to God first, the more problems he had to deal with. And because he didn’t consult God, daddy wasn’t learning from his mistakes. But when Daddy did finally turn to God, he started speaking to daddy in a way daddy could understand. He told daddy to do two things for now: 1) Do good and help others in the world. Bring value or make their lives better from having known Daddy and 2. for Daddy to do no harm. Daddy did this for a while and realized everything got better. Daddy and mommy started helping mommy’s family, the people who they worked with at their jobs and things started going well. Then mommy and daddy wanted to have kids. You see, daddy has been wanting to be your daddy for a very long time, over 20 years. But God wanted daddy to wait so he has the perfect kids that are a match for him. So he made daddy wait. And daddy is glad he did. Because God gave daddy the two most beautiful kids that were a perfect match for your mommy and daddy.
A few lessons from this. When you talk to God and you listen to him, he blesses you. What that means he makes everything in your life better. Second, if God doesn’t answer your prayers right away, it doesn’t mean he’s not listening or you’re not getting to get what you want. It just might be got is going to give it to you later. Sometimes, God doesn’t give it to you because he might think you’re not ready for it yet. Remember, God doesn’t give you more than he thinks you can handle. And if he does, it’s because he know when you have questions, you’ll ask him for the answers so he can build a friendship with you. Think of God as a spiritual father. You have me as a daddy and you have spiritual father for the rest of your life to ask questions and get the true answers. Since God was so big, he wanted to give you someone you can connect to and talk to that looked more like you and you can relate with. So he sent his son Jesus. What makes Jesus so special is he is the son of God. He is also human. He has a nose, ears, eyes, and a heart just like you. So when you want to talk to God, you can do it through Jesus. Think of Jesus like your best friend in the whole world who you can talk to anytime. He’s wise, kind, loving, and protects you like God. But he’s also funny, playful, and extremely huggable! 🙂
And the best part is he loves kids. So you can become friends and talk to him now for the rest of your life. Both God and Jesus will always be there for you and they have all the right answers.
Daddy knows about God. But he didn’t grow up knowing about Jesus. So the next thing God told Daddy was now that you’re listening to me again, I want you to read a book that I wrote for everyone. It’s going to show you how I want you to live your life so you’ll have joy and peace and blessings through it. And it will also tell you about the wonderful stories of Jesus and others I’ve talked to, like you, and what amazing things they were able to do. So daddy has been reading that book ever since you were born. And while Daddy is at camp, he’s going to finish reading this book and tell you of some of the amazing stories and the lessons daddy is learning from it. He’s also going to tell you about stories of others at his camp and what he’s learning from them.
Speaking about people at camp, back to Ron. Now Ron is in his 70s and goes walking 4-5 miles each day. To give you an idea, there’s a track that’s the size of a football field. Each 4 times around is 1 mile and it takes about 20-40 minutes. Ron goes around that track 16-20 times a day. That’s about 2-3 hours of walking. He’s walked over 10,000 miles while he’s been at the camp. He’s 74 years old. Daddy heard that and guess what he started doing? Walking a lot more! 🙂 Daddy started thinking if Ron walks 2-3 hours a day, daddy can start doing at least 1 hour a day. Remember, we start light so we can win. Then we can go for more. Daddy was already walking you around the block each day for 45 minutes a day so daddy feels he can do at least 1 hour to start. And guess what? Daddy’s been doing that for the last week. 🙂
The lesson with Mr. Ron is sometimes when you do something or go for your dreams, you inspire others. Inspire means when you do something, others believe they can do it too. Ron inspired Daddy to walk more because Daddy saw if Ron can do it at 74 years old, maybe he can do it too. The other lesson is despite Ron being away from his family for a long time, he’s decided to use this time to help others at the camp. He runs the library here. He’s teaching classes. And he has weekly meetings helping your Daddy and others read God’s book and discuss it so we know what God is saying and to do the right thing. That book I keep telling you about. It’s called the bible. And the meetings we have each week, we call them bible study. This is going to be the most important and fascinating book you’ll ever read. Your mommy and daddy are going to be reading this to you when you’re old enough.
Starting next time, I’m going to start telling you the stories and lessons from God’s book. For now, I’m going to tell you things Daddy has loved about the time you were born. You won’t remember this because you were just a baby. God creates babies for the first few years to not remember everything. I think it’s because you’re just coming into the world and God just wants you to feel loved, safe, and taken care of by your mommy and daddy. It’s also a chance for mommy and daddy to love on you and teach you the basics, like eating, crawling, and walking. You didn’t need help with pooping! That’s something God gave you automatically and you knew how to do that from the time you were born! 🙂
