Posts Tagged “fatherhood”

I wanted to share a great story I received from some FCC folks following this weekend.

Dear Scott,

My wife Sheryl and I have been going to Flatirons for about 2 years now. We are very grateful for the church, and for you and Jim, your spouses and your families. We know how collective the sacrifice is for a family in ministry.

Anyhow, I just wanted to add my story to your sermon that focused on fathers, and our Father God.

I’m now 55 years old. My dad died a couple of years ago at age 88.

When I was a boy, my father was vacant, emotionally, in our lives. This is to say nothing of the lack of support we received in our sporting endeavors, scouts, etc. Dad was pretty self-absorbed. It created a huge hole in all our lives (I have four brothers).

I became a Christian when I was 18. I was the only one in my family. I’ve lived 1500 miles away ever since I was married, so we had to write my parents, or call them on the phone. God’s gentle transformation gradually led me to tell my dad “I love you” every time I ended a letter or a phone call back home. His response was always “That’s all right, boy.”

Then one day, when I was in my late thirties, I received a birthday card that was written by both my mom (who had no problem expressing her affection) and my dad.

At the bottom of the card, it read “Love Dad.”

I wept then, and I still get teary eyed whenever I think about it. I still have the card. This began a transformation in my relationship with Dad that ended with us reaffirming our love every time we spoke on the phone, and verbally amidst tears whenever we would end our visit with them in Vancouver, on vacation with our own kids.

God transformed my mom and dad. They went to church together, and the last 10 years of their lives were the best of their marriage. They were affectionate for the first time in our presence in at least 40 years, and they became a symbol of the fact that “it’s never too late.”

My dad was in his seventies when I received that card. Those two words “Love Dad” started me on the path of healing and forgiveness. God is indeed good.

Please let folks know that it’s only too late when the grave takes us. Before then, God is a god of the impossible.

This weekend I quote JI Packer and Don Miller. I highly recommend reading Packer’s classic “Knowing God”. I quoted from the chapter on adoption. This book will give you great perspective into the character of God and knowing Him in unique ways. I also quoted from Donald Miller’s “to own a dragon”. Its a very personal look into his journey of growing up without a dad. I also recommend reading his most recent book “a million miles in a thousand years” where Donald talks about trying to contact his father.