With John Bates
The Greatest Love of All
My name is Patty ( name has been changed ) and I would like to share about how my heavenly Father shows me that He loves me. I realize every little boy and girl that is aware of God's presence and has a parent that is not saved will pray for them to come to know God and be saved. Sad though, not every child experiences this answer to prayer.
I came to know the Heavenly Father's love for me to a great degree when I was about 10 but let me recap with you how it came to that point. I was raised in what is termed today as a very dysfunctional home. My father was an alcoholic for many years and I was the oldest of five children. Living in this type of an environment caused me to experience a lot of responsibility to be placed on my shoulders. This is not something any child should ever have to experience. I believe what helped more than anything was coming to know God at an early age and knowing in my heart of hearts that He was real even at the age of 8. I remember continually going to bed at night and praying for my Dad. I would pray that he would come to know God and His love for him.
It was at this time of my life when things began to become tremulous. Our family packed up and moved from North Carolina to Virginia . Being in third grade, I had no idea what was happening. All I knew was that we were moving since there was a u-haul packed up and we were stopping by Grandma's to say good-bye. Dad had gone to the store and I was starting to become aware that he had been gone longer than I thought would have been necessary to get what he was getting. Then I realized he was gone. I realized he was never going to return and we were being abandoned. It broke my heart. I didn't know what was going on. Why would he leave us like that?
After about three weeks, he returned and we did eventually end up moving to Virginia . We only lived there long enough for me to finish third grade (about 3 months time) before it was decided we would move back to North Carolina . These moves did not change anything. In reality, things only grew dimmer. It was during this time when I was about 9 that Jesus' invitation for Him to enter my heart was accepted by me. Talk about hoping for one change and experiencing something totally different. It was at this time in my childhood that things became very dark and bleak. I remember it being Easter break and coming home to find all our belongings were packed up once again. My mom explained to that we were leaving because she could not take any more of my dad's alcohol abuse.
We ended up moving into what was called the city projects. Today, people would refer to them as low income public housing. We never did have very much money but that was because my dad would throw away his paycheck each week with purchasing alcohol and spending time gambling at the bars on Friday night. We didn't even have transportation. We ended up walking wherever we needed to get to. My mom did get a job and I became the surrogate parent at the youthful age of 9.
But this story does not end here. There were nights when my dad would come by the house. He was very intoxicated and he would bang on the door begging for my mother to take him back. My mom was gracious one night and allowed him to come see me in my room in order to say good-bye to me. As he said his good-byes and I love you, he told me that this was also going to be the last time he would ever get to see me. I broke down and cried hysterically that night. All I could do is weep and pray to God asking him to “please save my daddy.”
Weeks had passed since that night. Then out of the blue one night, two visitors came to see my mom. I recognized them from church. One was the pasto r and the other was the elementary school principal. I spent that time peeking around the corner of the staircase. And much to my surprise, I saw my dad in the room with his head bowed in prayer asking Jesus into his heart that night. I began to express my gratitude and thanksgiving to God for allowing me to be able to witness that night. I got to see God's love taking place for real. I began to witness the change in his life daily. Because of what God was doing in my daddy's life, my parents re-united and we were a family once again. WOW!!! My Father in heaven became very real to me as He showed me He loved me enough to answer my prayer. And the blessings did not end there. That same year, God also opened the door for our family to move into a brand new home.
Throughout many years of my life, I have felt God's love in much the same way. I cannot say that was always the case having gone through a divorce myself. But I know He keeps teaching me that He will make a way when I trust in Him in every area of my life. And just because I went through a divorce does not mean that God's love changed any. His love and mercies are new every morning.
I love the ocean and when I stand on the beach overlooking the ocean, I am reminded of beholding what manner of love the Father has given to us and how vast is this love. The ocean keeps on going and going until I can only see the horizon but never where it ends. This is the same with our Heavenly Father's love for us. It stretches far beyond what we could ever imagine or see. My experience is that whether I am going through the trials of life or am experiencing the blessings of God, His love keeps on flowing. So as I was asked specifically to share my story for Father's Day, I want to express to my Father in Heaven … thank you and happy Father's Day. And to all the children out there, who are praying for their fathers regardless of how old they are, remember to keep believing and nev er give up hope of seeing God answer that prayer. Love hopes all things and bears all things. Love believes all things. With God, nothing is impossible!!!
If you have a story of how God brought you from the point of despair to a life of hope, you may contact me via email to share your story and see if it could be used for future publications.