Father's Day

Matthew 6:9

King James Version (KJV)

 ⁹After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

So I grew up knowing my father, but not very well. My Mother divorced him when I was two. He was in the military and traveled a lot. We did get to see him a month every summer until I was eleven. Even then, it was more like going to see a familiar family friend. The connection was not really there. When I was eleven my grandmother died. This began the first of many disappearances by my Dad. I did not see him or speak to him again until I was fifteen. He up and called and asked me and my sister to come stay with him for the summer. I did, we argued. I guess I had grown up and he had not. My sister decided she wanted to stay with him and moved in. After two months circumstances led her back to me and Mom. This precipitated another disappearance. This one lasted for seven years. By this time I had gotten married(my grandfather walked me down the aisle), had two children and become a responsible adult. Out of the blue my Dad calls me. I won't lie, feelings of anger, resentment, and betrayal filled me, but another change had occurred in my life in the interval. I had met Christ. This meeting had given me a Heavenly Father who had forgiven my sins and who was I to withhold forgiveness to my earthly father? I won't lie, it has been hard. My father rarely calls(once in the last five years), but I will continue to try and develop a relationship with him. I will continue to love and honor him, not because of anything he has done, but because of everything my Heavenly Father has done for me. So when everyone celebrates Father's Day, it holds a special significance to me. I may not have a close relationship with my earthly father, but I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father that is out of this world! And  with faith in Him, I can hope for a similar relationship with my earthly father!