My journey towards God has both seemed like something I have been on my whole life and also something that feels very fresh and new. I believe that God knows it has to stay fresh and new so that I remain intrigued, impressed and motivated to continue on it.
One way that I feel God orchestrates this to happen is with reminders that He is with me. For whatever reason, I believe that He does this more when I am really trying hard to pursue Him, when I am enduring something challenging or when I think things are far worse than they actually are.
Last night I chose to check in on my father. I did so while cooking cauliflower and lamb (let’s be real, Kelli cooked the lamb, I was just reheating it, but I digress) for Luna via a facebook video chat. I wanted to see him. It was around 9pm.
We talked about all kinds of things. He gave me advice on some tools I need. We talked about riding motorcycles. We discussed our aging bodies and some health stuff. We briefly reminisced about my grandparents. We went over some presents he got for Keegan and a knife and sharpening stones he got for Canaan.
And we talked about God, my church and my pastor, Sammy.
He brought up a picture I took at church on Sunday and I added “77 Times” to the picture. My father was asking me what that meant. I shared with him about how when Jesus was talking to Peter and Peter asked Him how many times he needed to forgive someone who sinned against him, suggesting 7 times was sufficient to which Jesus responded “Not 7 times, but 77 times.”
This piece of scripture is very important to me as I cannot afford to hold onto resentments, particularly as someone in recovery.
My father has been following my church and Pastor Sammy online for a little bit now…and this morning, Sammy referenced that same passage of scripture in a morning devo on Facebook.
My dad shot me a screen shot of the video and it was one of those moments that Jesus and only Jesus could have planned. At 3 minutes and 16 seconds into the video, Sammy shared what Jesus said to Peter. He did so the morning after I shared that same information with my dad.
If my relationship with God was stale, boring, unsatisfactory, pointless, or anything short of amazing, I can promise you that it would end and probably fairly abruptly. But it so rewarding and so gratifying that I just can’t see myself anywhere else but right where I am at.
A two hour conversation with my father, stemming from my heart yearning to simply check in with him, turned into a moment that not only bonded my father and I closer, but bonded me and God closer and hopefully and maybe most importantly, nudged my father a fraction of an inch closer to Jesus.