Hey Aaron!
I'm glad you told everyone, you must feel so much better. I can oly guess how the rest of the family will take the news, but as for me, I love you and this doesn't change a thing. Actually, I feel badly for you that you've felt you've had to keep it hidden for so long. I've always believed, like you, that homosexuality or heterosexuality is in our genes. I haven't really known anyone who is gay or lesbian, except for a guy I worked with at Osco Drug. I didn't know him very well because he didn't work in the pharmacy with me, but he seemed like such a sweetheart. I've always had som curiosity, but it's none of my business.
Anyway, I wish you well, honestly. I hope the rest of the family can try to accept that way things are. I know you can't change. I'm very curiouos as to how they'll respond. Have you told your mom and Sherry? Do you have a boyfriend? Well, I'm here for you if you ever need me. And you don't have to answer my questions if you don't want to.
What happened to Matt is sad and so unfair. Just keep your faith in God and you'll be okay.
Love,
Cousin...
Hi Aaron,
I'm very new at the "internet." I hope you had a great Christmas. I just want you to know that I love you. We received your earlier message and at that time I didn't know how to use this and planned to write you a letter but of course I didn't get that done. I may not feel that your choice of lifestyle is what God would want but it certainly doesn't change how I feel about you. I thought you were a great kid and I think you are an exceptional young man. Wish we could see you more often. Hope to see you someday.
Love,
Aunt...
Aaron,
You were on my mind this morning so I decided to write before I get busy for the day. Please forgive me for not writing sooner. Partly it was because of being busy and partly because I wasn't sure just what to say to you. I wanted to think about what you said in your letter and reply with wisdom not emotions. I have prayed and studied my Bible and prayed some more. I have come to this conclusion. I'm sure you won't like what I have to say but I ask that you give me the same courtesy that I gave you by at least reading what I have to say. What you do with it after that is up to you.
I know you are convinced that God has put his approval on what you are doing. But I must disagree. The bible is clear that God loves the homosexual person as much as he does any other person. But he does not condone what they practice. In fact, it is condemned in many references. Does that make the homosexual any worse a sinner than "normal" people? No. We have "all sinned and come short of the glory of God." In God's eyes, sis is sin. People who take it into their own hands to judge someone like Matt Shepard are just as guilty before God. And if God believes that homosexuality is sin, then he will provide a way out of it. He has alrady provided the way through his son. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the light." Can you change? Yes, if you truly desire to. Will it be easy? No, any habit of sin, be it smoking, drinking, lying, or overeating, is difficult to get out of once the chains have wrapped themselves around you. We can only do it through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The key is do you want to change. It is your choice. We can be influenced by the world around us to do just about anything. Nut the choice IS ultimately yours. You say that you think you were born this way. Well, we are all born with a sin nature that makes us capable, of and inclined to do wrong. That's why I cannot judge and condemn you. Given the right set of circumstances I am capable of murder or anythingk else. But again, being capable of and choosing to do are two different things. That is why it is important to have the Holy Spirit living within you. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust (for sex, power, money, whatever) of the flesh." If you have never asked Jesus to be your saviour, you do not have that Spirit dwelling within you. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all thinkgs are become new." I'm sure that you have probably heard all of this before. From the sounds of your letter what I say probably will not change your mind. I just wanted you to know how I feel about it. I love you, Aaron. Nothing you do will change that. I'm not sure how it will affect our fellowship together, though. That is something we will have to work out. Again, I want to handle this in the right way. I know that God loves the sinner, myself included, but he does not tolerate the sin. He says whatever a man sows that's what he will reap. Whether it be in a garden or in life. I want to love you. I do not want to judge you, but neither can I tolerate, if you choose this lifestyle, the things you will be practicing. I will pray for you and for our family to handle this in the right way. I will be here if you want to talk about it. Again, I am sorry that it took so long for me to answer. I truly hope that you will at least think about what I have said. I would not wish upon you anything like what happened to Matt Shepard but there are people out there who are just as strong in their beliefs, be they right or wrong, who do wish you harm. Satan is also alive and well and would do everything in his power to blind the minds of people to serve his purposes. But even of more concern, I would not wish for you to have to stand, unprepared, before just and holy God who will one day judge and condemn sin. So what it all boils down to is not what I believe or what you believe but what GOd believes. If you study your Bible with an open mind, you will know what that is. And if you find anything in it to prove me otherwise, please tell me where it is.
All my love,
Aunt...
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