My dear children,

I’ve decided to start this blog because there are so many things I want to share with you. So many things I’ve learned about God. So many things I wish I had understood earlier in life. And I know I won’t be here forever. One day, you’ll have to live without my voice, my advice, my stories, and my hugs. So I want to leave you something you can come back to. Something you can read again when you need encouragement, when you have questions, when life gets confusing, or simply when you want to hear your dad’s heart again.

I want you to know something very simple: I love all of you deeply. None of you is my favourite. I don’t love one of you more than another. You’re each different, and I’m grateful for those differences, but my love for you is the same. You have been one of the greatest joys of my life. And there’s something the apostle John wrote that expresses what I feel better than I ever could: “I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in truth” (3 John 4, CSB). That’s not just a nice Bible verse to me. It’s real. I understand what John meant.

And the opposite is true too. There’s nothing more heartbreaking for a parent than watching a child walk away from God. I don’t say that to control you or to put a burden on you. I say it because I love you. More than anything else I could leave you, I want to leave you with what has become the most precious thing in my own life: knowing Jesus Christ. Not simply knowing about Him. Knowing Him. Trusting Him. Walking with Him. Learning to love what He loves and seeing life through His Word.

Being a parent isn’t easy. I’ve made plenty of mistakes. You know some of them, and there are probably others you don’t know. I’ve chased things the world told me would make me happy. I’ve looked for fun, success, satisfaction, and meaning in places that couldn’t give them to me. Sometimes those things looked wonderful at first. But eventually the excitement faded, and I found myself empty again. There were times I cried. Times I felt lost. Times I wondered what I was doing with my life. I’m not telling you this because I have everything figured out. I’m telling you because I’ve learned something the hard way.

Following Jesus is the best decision I have ever made. Nothing else has given me what He has given me.

When I finally learned to take Jesus seriously and put His words into practice, everything began to change. Matthew 6:33 became more than a verse I knew. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” When I began to understand what it really meant to put God first, I stopped living as though I had to figure everything out by myself. I found purpose. I found direction. I found peace. Not because life suddenly became easy, but because I finally understood who should be at the centre of my life.

And walking with God is more than going to church on Sunday. You can sit in a church every week and still keep God at a distance. When someone is truly walking with Christ, there will be evidence. Their life begins to change. Their priorities change. Their attitudes change. Their relationships change. They begin to see the world differently because they’re learning to see it through the truth of God’s Word. Following Jesus doesn’t mean becoming perfect. It means becoming different. It means allowing God to transform you from the inside out.

So give God first place in your life. Really try it. Open His Word. Pray. Obey what He says. Trust Him when you don’t understand. You will never regret taking God seriously.

There’s another promise in Scripture I want you to remember: “Those who trust in him will not be disgraced” (Isaiah 49:23, CSB). God is trustworthy. He may not give you everything you want, and He certainly won’t promise you a life without hardship. But He will never fail you. You may go through seasons when you don’t understand what He’s doing. You may have questions. You may even struggle with your faith. When that happens, don’t run away from God. Run toward Him. Bring your questions to Him. Open the Bible. Pray. Talk to people who love Jesus and who will point you back to His truth.

That’s one of the reasons I’m writing these articles. I hope there will be many of them. Some will be about things I’ve learned. Some will deal with questions I know you may face. Some may speak directly to struggles that come with work, relationships, marriage, money, disappointment, temptation, suffering, or simply trying to figure out what to do with your life. I’m writing them for you first, but I hope other people will find them helpful too. And if one day you’re reading something I wrote and you think, Dad understood what I was going through, then this blog will have accomplished something very special.

The Bible also tells children to honour their father and mother, “so that you may have a long life in the land that the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12, CSB). Paul calls this “the first commandment with a promise” (Ephesians 6:2). I want you to understand that this isn’t about blind obedience to your parents or pretending that parents never make mistakes. I’ve made plenty. It’s about recognising God’s design for family and learning to honour the people He has placed in your life. There is blessing in walking according to God’s ways, and His commands are not given to take away your joy. They are given because He knows what is good for us.

So, my children, this is my invitation to you. If you have questions about God, let’s talk. If you’re struggling, tell me. If you’re confused, let’s open the Bible together. If you’re hurting, let’s pray together. If you’re celebrating, let’s celebrate together. And through all of it, let’s love one another and keep growing in Christ. I don’t expect you to come to me because I have all the answers. I want you to come because I know the One who does.

From your dad who loves you very much!

Sam Medeiros