Letter From a Father in Prison

I am a prisoner in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. When I came to prison, I left behind a son and daughter who had to grow up without having a father. My daughter and I are talking now and working on a relationship. At this time, my son wants to have nothing to do with me. If you will let me, I would like to write to you as if you were my son or daughter. So here goes:

Dear One,
I cannot tell you how my heart aches for you having to grow up without a dad like the other kids. I agree that it wasn’t fair that you should suffer for my sinful actions. That is the nature of sin; someone always gets hurt.
Maybe you have wondered how I could have done such a thing and left you behind. I confess that I was being selfish in my thoughts and in my actions. Had I really been thinking of you, I would have sought help to deal with the issues in my life which led to murder.
The good thing is that God reached down and started working on me. He had my attention and I knew I needed a lot of help. He showed me I need to read the Bible daily and I have done so all this time.
God helped me see how valuable church fellowship is and how much I need to find men I can confide in. I need accountability so that when I start slipping, a brother can come to me and get me back on track. I was too proud to ask for help before, but now that I have been humbled, I ask for help often.
We never had the time to sit together and read God’s Word, but now I study daily with a group of dedicated men. We encourage each other to live a life of faith in Jesus Christ. Some of these men have children who also feel abandoned by their fathers. We all wish we could change that.
I did not deserve God’s forgiveness of my sins through Jesus Christ. He offered it out of love, and I accepted it. I don’t deserve your forgiveness either, but I pray you will forgive me.
I try to reach out to the young men I see in here because I would hope someone would do the same for you. I can’t be their father, but I can be their friend.
Please know that I am praying for you daily and thinking of you many times during the day.
With love,
Dad
Thanks for letting me write to you. I don’t know if your physical father is in your life, but we have a Heavenly Father who is always there for us and who loves us unconditionally. To get to know Him, just start praying to Him in Jesus’ name. He hasn’t let me down and He won’t let you down either.

Jay Copeland