"Our Good Good Father"

 "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" (Hebrews 12:9 KJV)

  "The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all of our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die." (PSALM 103:8-15 NLT)

 So, I really never had a father growing up; I had a stepfather, but most of the time we didn't get alone; to say the least. My mother and my real dad separated before I was two, and I really didn't meet my real dad until he came with my mother and my aunt to visit me in Fire Camp, when I was about 16, going on 17. I think the visit was meant to be some sort of an intervention, as they were trying to stop me from being a life-long criminal.   

 Not that my stepdad didn't try to correct me, because he did. He worked at a plant where they made things like plastic glass, so he brought home paddles that he made; some of them had holes, just for me. By the time I was 12, we really didn't get along at all. When I came home one night, around 11:30 or so, the lights were off, and he was waiting for me to show up. As I walked through the living room, he hit me square in the face; I had a broken nose and two black eyes. 

 That was pretty much the last straw; as it was, he went to jail, my mother had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized; and my sister and two younger brothers were placed in juvenal hall. But I was on probation, and my probation officer didn't think it was a good idea for me to be locked down, so I lived at my girlfriend's house, for a few weeks. 

 I know I have shared this before, but I truly believe my Heavenly Father was always there, keeping a close eye on me. I truly believe that the Father knows who His children are, long before they ever even know Him. So, the way I see it, He knows us already, waiting patiently for us to surrender...  

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day has passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!" (PSALM 139:13-18 NLT)