Dear Corey,

If Dad and I had named you as the Old Testament prophets named their children, we might have called you "Son-of-Many-Faces".  You love to entertain!  Your clownish facial contortions make us smile and you've always delighted in bringing laughter through wiggling ears and alternating eyebrow lifts.  Of course, your myriad faces haven't always served you well.  I'll never forget a night many years ago: the night of the fearsome monster.

When you were about two and a half or three you realized that if you raised clawed hands, stomped your feet slowly across the living room, raised your eye brows high, and growled through half-smiling, snarled lips at your older brother, he would squeal hysterically, laugh uncontrollably, and run circles around the house.  That of course, was just the payment "Son-of-Many-Faces" desired.  So, one night when sweet-little-you came stomp-growling into our bedroom, Dad and I clung to one another with feigned terror while I cried, "Oh no!  It's a monster!  Help!"  To this day, I shudder to remember your frightened face. The cute wide-eyed "beast" became once again, our sensitive Corey as you ran, panic on your face, full-speed into our arms.  Never imagining yourself as a monster, you assumed that there was imminent danger from a prowling creature right on your heels.   

You will find Corey, as you mature, many times when you will fail to recognize the monster that is you.  What I mean is this: humans commonly fear the unknown--dark places, uncertain futures, big moves, rejection.  But what we often fail to realize is that the biggest danger typically lurks much closer to home: right in our own flesh.  Even as redeemed believers we face daily battles against ugly "self". If you can become a man who examines his heart on a daily basis, confesses his sinfulness, studies God's Word, abides by Scriptural principles, holds himself accountable to others, and prays for his Father's will rather than his own, you will become less and less "monster-like" and more and more Christ-like. 

Last, dear son, remember the refuge you found in arms of your loving parents; your heavenly Father loves you infinitely more.  He's there when the "monsters" really are at your heels and He's there when the struggles are a bit closer to home.  At all times, even when the monster is you, find comfort in His arms. 

With Love,

Mom