It began with an unexpected call from my father. He wanted to fly to Kansas and spend almost a week with us... soon. We were glad to host him. God has gifted Courtney with the heart and diligence for hospitality, so we have always kept an open door to our family members (well, most of them, lol).
But you have to understand my relationship with my father. He enlisted in the Marines as a teenager and spent most of my childhood out of the house. He named me after the Tennessee whiskey, Jack Daniel’s, because that was cool. Needless to say, I didn’t grow up in a Christian home.
Then he and my mom split up, and from the age of 9 I never lived with him again. This “complicated” my relationship with him. I didn’t know how to receive love or feel anything when I was around him. It’s like I was emotionally numb on purpose. Can anybody relate?
When I was in my 20’s, I finally confronted him. I shared my heart, and he responded the best he knew how. I didn’t know if the confrontation was worth it, and since I lived far away, I left it in Michigan.
Then something wonderful happened. A few years later, we were driving around in his truck, and he initiated the conversation.
“Jack, I’m sorry. If I had known what kind of Dad I was and wasn’t, I would have never been that way to you. I’m sorry for the kind of father I have been.”
What happened?
My dad started going to church, and God was slowly peeling back the layers of hurt and confusion that surrounded his life. He watched me and my sister with “his grandkids,” and realized that the way we were bringing them up was in stark contrast to his own parenting.
The blindfold was removed, and God was working in his heart.
Then he moved to Oregon. More importantly, he started going to a church that emphasized personal discipleship. He began meeting with a man who walked him through sound doctrine, and he recently hit a growth spurt.
I’m so proud of him. And I’m thankful for God’s grace on our family.
Before the turn of the century, no one could have predicted 2020 for our family. You would have said, “Not a chance.” But God doesn’t rely on chance.
God is still at work, reconciling people to Himself and each other.
Check out this picture of my dad in the service last Sunday (thanks to Teri Mather):
It’s never too late.
This Sunday we will continue our study on Heaven and look at Revelation 6. Which brings a question to mind: When’s the last time you brushed up on the seals and trumpets and bowls of wrath? See you on Sunday!
I love you, brothers and sisters.
Pastor Jack