My First Time (Blogging That is…)

So this is my first blog. Go easy on me. Because I tend to ramble and I guarantee my thoughts will not always be clear. But this will be my outlet. A place to let go, reflect on God, daily life and…other stuff.

I can confidently say God has been at work in my life lately. In more ways than I can comprehend…if that makes any sense at all. First and foremost with my father. Just a brief history- growing up my dad was an atheist and discouraged any talk about our faith (my sister and I grew up going to church with a friend). He did a great job ensuring our family was provided for…materialistically and financially. But that’s about it. A genuine “How was your day?” was rare from him. Although there was constant fighting and threats of divorce, my parents held out on following through until after we graduated high school. From there things went further down hill. About five years ago my dad pushed himself away from the family- my siblings from his first marriage, as well as my sister and I. Then after the death of my brother, he disappeared for a couple years. Nobody had heard from him since then.

Fast forward to last month- he had an aneurysm burst and attempted to drive himself to the hospital. Anyway, to make a long story short and simply put- he beat the odds. There was a 5% chance of him even making it to the hospital alive. An even greater chance of him not making it through recovery mentally and physically okay, if at all. I am proud to say he left the hospital today. After about a month and a half there (and most of that spent in ICU), God proved he isn’t done with him yet. Unfortunately he doesn’t see it that way. But I’m hoping in due time he’ll realize it was something bigger than himself that pulled him through.

I’ve spent the last two weeks talking to my dad like never before. I can’t even begin to tell you the change I have seen in him. His guilt for what he did to the family have led him to tears several times in just the short time he’s been awake (and I had never seen him cry before!). He is so passionate about being able to stay in touch and build onto the relationships we’ve never had. He told us that he came back to town less than a year ago to “see what happens”. To see if things could change with the family. However he neglected to contact any of us or act on that curiosity. We all realize that his stint in the hospital is what the family needed to make that change. It’s a hard way to go about it, but it is clearly the purpose. So now I can’t wait to see what happens. It is a little bit strange to go from a dad who doesn’t show he cares, to disappearing to now wanting to know every little thing about what is going on. Needless to say this change is, and will continue to be a huge blessing! I just ask that you keep him in your prayers- that my sister and I can be witnesses to him and that eventually he will come to know Christ.

Check out his story (it was featured on the news as a way to thank all the people involved in saving his life):

Fox 4 News
The Examiner Article