Psalm 40:3 (NLT) “He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be astounded. They will put their trust in the LORD.”
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to celebrate my dad’s 65th birthday with our family. That is my brother, sister, her husband, their two kids and my mom. Yes, this is a miracle. God has truly restored our family. You see, my dad was the type of man that cheated on my mom a lot. He had numerous girlfriends. He didn’t pay the bills, his check was his money. He was not at home when we were growing up. He was in the military and was always somewhere else. When he was at home, he displayed anger and yelled a whole bunch. I remember he was so ticked off one time that he took his full coffee cup and threw it at me hitting the brick wall of our house. He was also abusive. We were scared of him. My parents ended up divorced.
There is a long gap in between family pictures. There are some individual pictures when we were toddlers. Then elementary pictures that looked like we were in prison, growing up in prison at home. Wow?
Nine years ago, I gave my heart to Jesus. Realizing the only hope my family had was Jesus, I began to love them where they were at. In less than a year, I lead my dad to Jesus. Something happened inside of me (Jesus) that allowed me to forgive my dad. I had a little voice inside of me that continually reminded me that if Jesus could die on the cross for my sins; then He also died on the cross for my dad’s sins and I had to let Jesus bear that burden, not me. I couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to live and bear fruit for God, unless I truly believed and walked it out. It wasn’t easy. That is why I know Jesus did it. I could never have pulled off anything like that. The pain was too much, too heavy.
So anyways, my brother with my mom and dad in tow drove to Austin. My sister and her family met us at a restaurant in Austin. Not everyone gets the same invitation time; because my sister has a track record at being very late. So I told her a 45 minute earlier time frame, so they were only ½ hour late instead - well it could have been worse. We ate and laughed and let dad tell his favorite historic piece, which was the man on the moon. How televisions only had one channel and they were very small and the news came on at eight o’clock. Then we went for our family photo. We only had one other family photo, and it was 14 years ago. I know this because, I was married at the time and Chelsea was just born. I so desired a family, like the Waltons; but never thought it could be a reality - yet on Saturday, March 25 Jesus gave me the desire of my heart. A family where we could all be who God created us to be. It was so much fun! Thank you Jesus. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.”
Hooray! What a precious keepsake. You'll have to show it to me sometime.
Posted by: Lexie | March 27, 2006 at 12:41 PM
I can't wait to see the picture! Isn't it amazing what God can do!
Posted by: lynn | March 29, 2006 at 10:45 AM