The Love of a Father: and the Journey of His Prodigal Son

By Marcus Clapper

Fifteen years in the making, The Love of a Father and the Journey of His Prodigal Son is more than a linear recount of life's highs and lows. In his debut memoir, author Marcus Clapper captivates readers with his s

• Language: English
• Publisher: M Ryan Enterprises, LLC
• Release date: May 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9780578880808

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Dedication

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I wholly dedicate The Love of a Father and the Journey of His Prodigal Son to God who is my heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who is my eternal savior. I praise God every day for His mercy and grace and for saving a sinner like me from physical and spiritual death. I would not be alive today if it were not for His patience, mercy, and forgiveness. My prayer is that I honor Him with my life and my story, of which He is the author and creator.

***

I dedicate this book to my earthly father. Dad, I am eternally grateful for your love and the sacrifices you have made for my life. The pain we share unites us on earth, and more importantly, in heaven. We are stronger for the challenges we have faced together and we would not have the love and relationship we have today if it were not for our shared challenges. On Father’s Day, twenty years ago, when I called you from jail to tell you I had been arrested, I never thought that our relationship, which was filled with anger and bitterness and was virtually non-existent at that time, could be repaired. I could not imagine at that time that we would ever be a part of each other’s lives the way we are today. I owe so much of who I am to you. I love you, Dad.

***

I also dedicate this book to my loving, forgiving, and eternally patient wife, Michelle. You have been supportive and remained by me when many would not and most did not. You have seen a light in me that many haven’t, and that many times, almost went out. I love you for your mercy and forgiveness. Most of all, I am thankful that I had you by my side especially during the hard times. I cannot imagine we would have made it without each other. I love you, Michelle!

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I dedicate this book to my mom, Brenda, and my sister, Evonne. We have been through so much together and your love and support has never waned. You have both been a blessing to our family and me in so many ways. I love you, both.

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Lastly, I dedicate this book to my children, Michael and Mykala. You might never fully understand your purpose for my life, but God sent you both to save me and that is exactly what you did. My prayer is that your light shines brighter than mine ever will and that God will always come first in every aspect of your lives. So many times, when I thought I could not muster the strength to continue on, you have been the joy that has kept me going. I love you both more than I ever thought possible. I will always be there for you no matter what. I love you forever, Daddy

Table of Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

CHAPTER 1

For All Have Sinned….

CHAPTER 2

First, I Need to Take Ownership for My Actions

CHAPTER 3

Where My Journey Began

CHAPTER 4

Turning My Back on Dad and God

CHAPTER 5

When I Finally Felt Free

CHAPTER 6

The Beginning of The End

CHAPTER 7

When the Party Is Over

CHAPTER 8

There Will Always Be A Knock at the Door

CHAPTER 9

When It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

CHAPTER 10

When the Prodigal Son Finally Returns

CHAPTER 11

The Long Road Back to God

CHAPTER 12

God Saved Me for The Last Time!

CHAPTER 13

Just A Father and His Son

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Foreword

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Everybody has a story. Some may seem uneventful, others dramatic, while others are life changing. This story, Marcus’ story, is a life changer.

Sometimes in life, people veer off course and are not always aware of how they had gotten so far away from what is good, true, and right. Nevertheless, God knows when things are not right, and if we allow Him, He will take the wrong in all of our lives and make it right. Though this is not my story, I was a player in the events. As a player, when my son called me from jail on Father’s Day of 2000 and gave me an ultimatum to either stand by him and love him unconditionally from that moment forward or to never be a part of his life again, the decision marked a pivotal moment in our relationship. We would finally let each other back into our lives—all I had to do was love him. Although I had not stopped loving him, I also had not told or showed him my love, the love of a father, since he was a boy. Many years had passed and now he was a twenty-five-year-old man seeking my unconditional love. It was time to see that we both needed to change before it was too late.

God heals the broken and broken-hearted; He loves those who feel unloved if only we will let Him. To discover the power of authentic forgiveness and grace, read on in The Love of a Father and the Journey of His Prodigal Son. Forgiveness rewrites the future of all our stories! May God be glorified by using this story to speak to that unloved child or that parent who has walked away from the most important facets of their child’s (children’s) life. Marcus, thank you for being a vessel that God will continue to use.

Love,

Your Dad, Dale

Preface

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In May of 2015, God started laying on my heart that I should write a book about my journey through life. This completely caught me off guard. I had so many questions. Why would God impress upon me to write a book? Who would want to read about my life? God, what could I possibly have to offer others? I repeatedly inquired of God to learn His purpose behind what seemed like a daunting task. I wrestled with the idea and tried to understand God’s purpose. After all, I was not an author nor a public speaker nor a famous athlete, so I wondered, why would the public be interested in reading a book I wrote? I asked God, Who really wants to read about me? Yet, deep within, I knew exactly what God wanted. I knew what He was asking me to do.

Fifteen years earlier, God saved me from a life without freedom. He saved me from a life that would not have included the family that I love so dearly, and on several occasions, He saved me from death itself. Miraculously, God had saved me from a future life I cannot fathom living today. In the years that followed, I had mentioned to those who knew about my past that I would someday use my story to help others. I never knew what form that help would take or when that day would come, but when the words came out of my mouth, I knew it would happen.

So, here I was fifteen years later, and the time had finally come for me to put my words into action. My problem with God’s plan is that my life had changed dramatically in the past fifteen years. During that time, so many positive changes had happened to me. I had gotten married to my wife Michelle in October 2000. Also, during this time, after a long battle, I was finally able to free myself of addiction. In 2005, I had gone back to college to further my education and become a CPA. In 2010, we had children and I became a stay at home parent. We have always loved to travel and had been blessed with the financial freedom to do this regularly. Michelle had just made partner at her firm and the financial blessings that our family enjoyed were growing exponentially. So many positive and amazing things had happened in my life over the past fifteen years and I had become extremely comfortable with my current lot in life, and I was not certain I cared to shake it up in any way. For weeks, I wrestled with the task to write a book—a task I believe God assigned.

Finally, I decided to share this with my wife to get her take on the matter. Secretly, I was hoping she would laugh at me and dissuade me from doing it, which was part of my motivation for sharing with her. I was hoping she would laugh at the thought of me writing a book and tell me the idea was ridiculous so when God asked me to write it again, I could blame my decision not to write the book on her. She would be the perfect scapegoat. I remember first sharing with her what God was laying on my heart while we were in Puerto Rico on a trip without our kids for a long weekend. On our first day, we were lying on the beach chatting. We were both feeling nice and relaxed so I sprang it on her. I shared how I had been hearing God tell me to put my life story in writing. I waited for her to laugh and completely blow the idea off, but her response was exactly what I expected from her. True to her form, she was supportive and encouraged me to follow through with what I was hearing. She was as solid and predictable as ever. Ugh! Now, what was I going to do? I knew that I could not count on Michelle to help me get out of writing my book, so I had to figure out a way to get out of it on my own.

In the book of Jonah in the Bible, God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh to warn the residents of their sin and the destruction it would bring if they did not repent. Jonah believed that the people of Nineveh would harm him for this message. Jonah’s fear of what would happen to him and a strong sense of self-preservation caused him to run from God instead of obeying Him. Jonah decided to take passage on a boat sailing to Tarshish, which was in the opposite direction from where God had commanded him to go. Jonah thought he could run from God. So, God used a vicious storm and three days in the belly of a large fish to convince Jonah to follow His directions. I was now faced with what seemed like a decision that was equally as daunting as the one Jonah had faced. God was instructing me to do something that I knew would be life changing and would force me out of the comfortable life I was living. The unknown of what God was asking me caused me great fear and anxiety. So, in the truest nature of Jonah, I did what I had always done best. I decided it was time to run the other way. I thought I could run from God. So, that is exactly what I did. I ran and ignored God for as long and as hard as I could. I tried to ignore God’s voice by focusing my time on my health, my family, traveling, sports, and pretty much anything else that would serve as a good distraction. I focused all of my attention on me and how I wanted to live my life. This only made the voice in my head telling me to write a book get louder. As I tried to make excuse after excuse for why I could not and would not