“And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:6
I might have been just a little difficult when I was little. I can remember when I was quite young that I wasn’t very quiet. I also remember that I had a hard time standing still. I used to rock side to side sometimes and I can remember Momma asking, telling me, to hold still. I’m sure there is a name for it now but back then it was just kind of a weird normal. At any rate it might explain some of the things I did that got me into a hot mess.
I can remember the time that I stuck my daddy’s water hose in the ground and couldn’t get it out. We lived in North Florida and the soil was very sandy. I discovered if you turned the water on and pressed the end of the hose against the soil, it would kinda self-drill into the sand. On a good day I could get the hose three or four feet into the ground. That was the easy part. The problem was getting it back out of the ground. You see, the water and sand created a seal around the hose and no matter how hard I tried…it was stuck. I suppose you can imagine how upset, maybe angry, my daddy was when he came home and tried to water his roses and his hose was stuck in the ground. Hmmm…not good, not good at all.
Of course then there was the time I found some leftover firecrackers in the workroom we had attached to the back of the house. I decided that I could make a rocket of sorts with the firecrackers and a can. I went to the trash and found a tin can, poked a small hole in the bottom and then fed the fuse for one of the firecrackers through the hole. Then, I dug a hole just the size of the can, put the can in the hole and lit the fuse and…ran. The firecracker exploded as planned and that propelled the can up in the air probably twenty or thirty feet. There was only one problem. I had dug the hole for the can right next to the front of daddy’s car. Well, what goes up must come down and that can came right down…and landed right on the hood of daddy’s car. Since this was a long time ago, it was when cans were made a lot stronger than they are today and when that can hit the hood—it definitely left a mark…a dent in fact. Hmmm…not good, not good at all.
The worst of them all was the time I shot my daddy in the back with my BB gun. We were hunting squirrels and daddy had let me take my BB gun along. I was walking along and violated one of the big rules of gun safety—actually two of them. First, make sure your safety is one and two, keep your finger off the trigger. Well, I apparently flunked gun safety because my safety was not on and I had my finger on the trigger. I stumbled and shot daddy dead in the back. Now calm down. The good news is he had on a heavy hunting coat and the BB gun was pretty weak. The bottom line is he hardly felt it but he did feel it enough to turn around and give me “the look.” I’m sure I had to retake Gun Safety 101. Hmmm…nor good, not good at all.
So you would think after these three things and probably a couple of dozen more I can’t remember, my daddy promptly disowned me or at least sent me off to reform school or the French Foreign Legion. But the truth of the matter is…he didn’t. Oh, I’m sure there was some sort of punishment but one thing was for sure. He never stopped loving me…he never disowned me. No matter what…I was still his son and his love, a father’s love, never failed. I know for some of you that is hard to understand, because it just wasn’t that way with your daddy.
Let me share some good news with you. No matter what kind of daddy you had growing up there is another Daddy in heaven who loves you no matter what. In fact, the Bible says He is an Abba Father…or Dearest Daddy and He is just waiting for you to be a part of His family. And that happens when you ask and when you believe—ask Him to forgive your sins and believe that His Son Jesus in fact died for your sins making that forgiveness possible. Trust me…it is the greatest gift and the greatest decision you will ever make. Why not ask Him today? Why not let Him make you His. I promise you won’t regret it. If you are afraid you’ve messed up to bad…well, don’t you worry about that. No matter what you have done you can be assured that, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 