Dear Mama

Felicia Peters was very worried about her son. He was generally a good boy, but since he started college his attitude has turned negative.Her respectful son became rude and disrespectful to everyone at the slightest excuse and sometimes even without provocation. He was known for his thoughtfulness, rarely asked for anything except it was absolutely necessary, but he began to make unnecessary demands and became violent if all his requests were not granted. Initially, his dear mother thought he was under pressure from his school activities or probably having girl trouble. She tried to talk to him to see how she could help him, but he would not talk to her. Baffled and troubled, she decided to ask some friends with children in colleges to find out if it was a common attitude problem with students in college. But she discovered this was not necessarily a behavior pattern for college students.

Perplexed she started praying for her son. Then one day, her friend’s son confided in his mum that Felicia Peter’s son was a drug addict. When this information reached her, she broke down and wept uncontrollably. She was so heartbroken that she could not eat for days. The puzzle was finally solved. It was a drug problem. The signs were all there but she never thought that her boy could be on drugs. She now began to understand his unusual constant demand for money and the strange and sudden disappearances of money and valuable items from the house. Her son was apparently finding ways to feed his drug habit. Where did I go wrong, she asked no one in particular? What did I not do right? Where did I fail? But there were no answers.

She confronted her son and he did not deny it. As a matter of fact he asked her rudely to mind her own business. "You are my business, son, she wailed helplessly. She pleaded with him to stop drugs and offered to get him professional help, but he refused. He eventually dropped out of college and his condition became worse by the day. Sometimes he left home for days without a word and would come back looking like a lunatic, filthy and smelly with rashes all over his body. The change of her son was heartbreaking to behold.

With a broken heart she intensified her prayers. She sought the counsel of pastors and they joined her in prayers too. She never failed to make a prayer request for her son each time she was in church. Everyone knew her and the story of her son. He was a disgrace and shame to the entire family. Everyone in the family gave up hope that he will become anything of worth in life. As a matter of fact it was expected by most that sooner than later he may die of a drug overdose or a related complication.

In spite of this morbid expectations of people Felicia Peters never gave up on her boy. One day, whilst she was in church an announcement was made that the lease of the church had expired and there was need for them to move. A call was made for everyone to assist in looking for a suitable place for their relocation. After the church service she called on the Pastor and told him not to look any further because she had a property she wanted to donate to the church as a permanent dwelling place. The pastor and the elders were stupefied. They offered to pay for the property, but she refused to take any money. She said to the pastor, “I do not need money, sir. What use is money and property when I have a son that is lost to hard drugs? My only request is that God may remember me and deliver my son from this addiction. I give this land to the Lord as a seed – a point of contact for the deliverance of my son. If God resides on my property to carry on His activity of soul winning then I will be confident that one day my son’s soul, spirit and body would be saved too.” Fully understanding the weight of this donation, the senior pastor and his team with one voice cried to God and prayed yet again on her behalf. And they never ceased praying.

Fifteen years after this gift to the Lord’s church, Felicia Peter’s son married in that same church that was built on the land she gave to God. Now, fully delivered from drug addiction, successful in business, faithful worker and leader in the church, he stands proud and tall for the world to see. He got here because his dear mother would not give up on him.

I was at his wedding too and witnessed the happy turn of events. Only a mother would hold on to her child when all hope is gone.

We perceive and interpret life from different angles so I do not know what you have taken from this true life story. Speaking for myself,this story impacted me in many ways. I know Felicia Peter's son now, but I was not acquainted to him when he was an addict. So, it is extremely hard for me to believe that he was once in this pathetic state and was labelled a 'family disgrace and shame.' The transformation is simply unbelievable.

It goes to show that anything is possible and anyone can become anything in this life. It is a lesson to us all that we should never write off people or be disdainful because of their present state, level, position or circumstances. For instance, it is pretty easy to be audacious or 'talk down' at your driver (or chauffeur),house maids, secretaries, security men and office assistants,etc but we do need to be reminded that these individuals have a destiny in God just like we do too. There are some very wealthy and successful people today who at some point in their lives hawked petty wares on the streets of major cities and trekked to school without shoes. However, today their stories have changed because destinies do birth and stars do shine eventually.

Most important of all, this story drove home the truth that what we give to people only leave our hands, but never leave our lives. What you give to others, good or bad will wait for you in the future. Felicia Peters gave out a parcel of land, but today she is richer for it. She got back several more property in the past fifteen years, but above all she got her son back too.

I told this story for several reasons, but chief of all that it may encourage at least one discouraged or helpless mother to hold on and have faith in God. Whatever your child's story is be persuaded that all things are possible with God if you can believe.

To all the mothers out there, do not let go of your child. Do not discriminate between your children and do not write any child off because you never know. Do not treat your biological child better than your step child, adopted or foster child, but love all of them equally with the love of God. There is nothing you do or give to a child that is in vain or a waste because the harvest of your seed of love will be waiting for you in the future like it did for Felicia Peters.

Happy Mother’s Day and peace to all mothers in the world!

NB:The story in this post is true, but the name, ‘Felicia Peters’ is a mere figment of my imagination to cover the real identity of the characters in the story.