It's kind of ironic how even at a funeral, God is still able to breathe life into a long dead relationship between a father and his daughter. Maybe it's not ironic, maybe it's just that God is always moving, even if it's in a seemingly difficult situation.
I was at a memorial service for one of my old Sunday School teachers who recently passed away. During the time that friends of the family were allowed to share their thoughts about "Aunt Barbara," my mother got up to say a few words. When she sat back down, she leaned over to me and whispered, "Your father is here."
Now, anyone that knows even a little bit about me knows that my parents divorced when I was about 12, and it has been ugly ever since. My relationship with my father has always been rocky, and needless to say, for many years of my life, I felt that I didn't even have a father.
After the service, I said hi to a few people I hadn't seen since I was about 5, and then sheepishly approached my father. As though nothing bad had ever happened between us, we hugged and said hello. During the 10 seconds of that embrace, it was as though he understood how I had felt for all those years, and it all seemed to melt away.
We were able to talk civilly and he even gave me advice about the talk I was about to give to my youth group that night.
For years, I had let the pain that I believed my father was causing me invade my life and affect all subsequent relationships. And yet in this humble moment, God took it all away. God truly is awesome.
Greater things have yet to come...
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