Finally...

Finally it happened... for the first time in 40 years my father was real, though only just for a moment.  In that one moment I saw a hopeless man haunted by his past, quickly taking refuge in the only living beings that give him solace- his pets.  He is not a believer, and in fact has on many occasions has expressed his anger at God for the things he witnessed during his two tours in Vietnam, once even telling me there is no god.  He's getting older and facing the reality that he's deteriorating physically and changing mentally a bit as well.  My stepmother is worried about the beginning phases of  Alzheimer's Disease (Dad's uncle had Alzheimer's), and has recommended he go in for testing (to which he actually agreed-so unlike my very obstinate father).  Perhaps the most surprising aspect of all this is that for the first time I saw very deeply just how badly my father needs Jesus.  I've prayed for both my dad and stepmom over the years for their salvation, but I've never had a spiritual burden for them.  I do, now.  I'm ashamed that I've been so hard-hearted- toward my dad specifically- having had to wrestle through some of my own selfishness, anger, and bitterness toward him in my early-to-mid-thirties (yes, I'm a late bloomer when it comes to working through my baggage).  Now, though, my prayers carry and desperation and fervency that they haven't in the past for their salvation...  Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father, but by Me." ~John 14:6...  If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed ~  John 8:36

Grace and Peace

W