Beginnings

I've been wanting to start my own blog for some time now, but couldn't quite find the inspiration to get started. Tonight, however, as I sit up thinking about what tomorrow is, I realize that the inspiration has been there all along, I just needed a little help in bringing it to the surface. Tomorrow is Father's Day, a day that has been dreaded in my house for many years now. It is a day that is full of heartache and full of longing. The past two years have been especially full of times when the absence of my earthly father has brought incredible pain to my everyday life. He was supposed to be there to see me graduate high school. He was supposed to be there when I started college. He was supposed to be there to tell me his jokes, full of his dry humor that I now realize I took for granted. He was supposed to be there for the past seven Father's Days. But for some reason that I have yet to fully understand, he's not here.


The Lord reminded me of something that is going to turn the meaning of Father's Day completely around for me. The reminder is simple, one I have heard many times throughout my years of Sunday school: I am not fatherless, I am God's child. This reminder came from today's reading in Jesus Calling. The fact that we are God's children is not even the topic of today's devotional - but God has an awesome and subtle way of sending us reminders when we need them the most, doesn't He? The topic of today's reading does provide further meaning for this reminder. Since we are God's children, we must obey Him. I know I didn't always behave for my dad - and I know he would tell you the same. A particular instance comes to mind, that I know he would bring up to this day if he were here. When I was about seven or eight, he offered to voluntarily swallow a tablespoon full of vinegar if I took the tablespoon of antibiotics I was supposed to take. Let's just say he followed through on his word while I on the other hand, did not. The last line of the devotional reads: "What I require of you is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Me - wherever I lead." As I mentioned before, I have yet to fully realize how my father's passing fits into God's plans for my life. But the best part is that I don't need to understand right now. It's simple (hence the title of my blog). Just as my dad knew what was best for me with taking my antibiotics, my heavenly Father also has my best interest in mind.


So this Father's Day, I choose not to concentrate on the voidness and hurt that I feel in my heart. Instead, I choose to fill my day walking with my heavenly Father wherever that may take me.

"Stay on the high road with Me. Many voices clamor for your attention, trying to divert you to another path. But I have called you to walk ever so closely with Me, soaking in My Presence, living in My Peace. This is My unique design for you, planed before the world began. I have called each of My children to a different path, distinctly designed for that one. Do not let anyone convince you that his path is the only right way. And be careful not to extol your path as superior to another's way. What I require of you is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Me - wherever I lead."
-Jesus Calling