In everything
give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1Thess 5:18
(NKJV)
I have a
lot to be thankful for this year as a father. As I reflect back on years past
and see how God has moved in both mine and my daughter’s life, I cannot help
but to give Him the praise. What made this year so special was being able to
witness His faithfulness come to fruition first hand. Naturally, the highlight
was having my daughter for the entire day and being able to bring her to church
so we could worship the Lord. Any time I get to pour Christ into her is a
blessing, but it seems to be magnified on Father’s Day.
The big
surprise, though, was the end of the day. I had attended a men’s conference at
church the day before on the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit. My
Achilles heel in my walk has always been my personal relationship with my own
dad. It is no secret that I have father issues, but my tendency is to sweep it
under the rug and move on to something else. Not this time. God used the
conference to really dig deep into my spirit and gave me specific instructions
to have a one on one talk with my dad- the next day! I couldn’t shake the
obvious and in obedience, I sought out prayer for strength from my friends all
weekend long. As the day came to a close and I dropped my daughter off, I knew the time was at hand to have “the talk” with my dad. Although he is a regular church attendee, I knew he had to hear the Gospel. I also had a lot of unresolved personal conflict that I needed to address with him. In short, the conversation went exceptionally smooth and to my surprise- I wasn’t nervous at all once we got started. We talked for over an hour and at the end I got to pray over my dad, I hugged him, and for the first time in years- told him I loved him. I know this made a great impression on him, but I think the biggest change came from within me. I had faced, and slayed, the last true giant I had in my life (2Tim 1:7).
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