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Rock Hill, SC, United States
"My heart is overflowing with a good theme. I recite my compositions concerning the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer." (Psalm 45:1) This verse has become a life verse for me. As I continue to walk it out, I realize this journey as a breast cancer survivor has changed me but does not define me. I remain the loved, chosen, redeemed and blessed child of the living God who supplies me daily with more hope, strength, grace and courage than I ever dreamed I could possess! God has been so good to me ... indeed my tongue is the pen of a ready writer ... poised to tell the story of my faithful Father! I love Him so!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Friday and in just two days, on Sunday, we will be celebrating Father's Day. In my family this has always been a joyous time.

My Daddy, Glenn Randolph
My own father has been a wonderful Daddy to me. Not perfect. But loving and kind, generous and attentive. I am so blessed! That's his picture over there ....

Actually, I'm doubly blessed because I married a man who has been a great father to our sons. He has been a godly example, kind, tender, generous, forgiving. He is the most self-less individual that I know.  Our sons are blessed and I get to share in that blessing!

But today, I met a young woman who does not feel blessed. In fact, she feels very indifferent.
I could tell by what she said to me, a stranger, but I know that deep down she's wounded. Probably very wounded. Her words betrayed her. Here's what happened.

I was in the express lane at Wal-Mart buying Father's Day cards and gift wrap. The young cashier saw my items and gasped. It seems she had forgotten that Father's Day weekend was upon us and my purchases had rung a bell. The other young lady, the one putting my items in the bag, said, "I don't have a father. I've never had one."

Ouch! My heart bled a little in that moment for her and I didn't know what to say. Well, that's not entirely true. I knew what I wanted to say, what I needed to say, but I found myself lacking the courage to say it. I acknowledged her statement as best I could while stumbling over and avoiding the unmistakable prompting arising from the deepest place of my heart.

Some of you know where this is heading ...
                              you've been there a time or two as well ...

Anyway, we said goodbye, I grabbed my purchases and I walked directly across to the in-store MacDonalds counter and ordered a coffee. Sidenote: Even before I left home, I had planned to end my Wal-Mart visit with a large coffee ~ and before the foundation of the world God had planned that this cup of coffee would not come without a bit of emotional cost and spiritual stretching.

Oh but, I'm getting ahead of myself....

Back to my story ... The young McD's cashier took my money and said, I'll have to make a pot for you. Well, of course she did, and wouldn't you know it? Afterall, the Holy Spirit ~ He's our resident Teacher and guides into all truth ~ was working on my heart, full on! It was all part of the tension that I was feeling and this sudden, convenient, new found, supply of "time" had presented itself so I could work it all out. My only options were to stand there and squirm while waiting for my coffee or do what my heart was telling me must be done!

Have I lost you? Let me remind you of what my tension was rooted in, just in case you forgot ~ I knew what I should have said to that young woman ~ and in that moment, waiting for my coffee, I also knew that I wasn't going to leave that Wal-Mart store until I said it. The Lord was not going to allow it!

So, with my heart pounding and my mind looking for an excuse to go back through that express lane ~ just keeping it real ~ I told the McD's gal that I was going to go buy a pack of gum and I'd be right back for my coffee. (it was the only excuse I could conjure up!)

        Which I did ... buy gum, that is.

                         At the same cash register as before.

                                          Bagged by the same young lady as before.

Only this time as I left, I gently touched her shoulder, asking for permission to do so just in case that gesture made her uncomfortable, and I told her that her honesty had touched my heart. I told her that even though she may not have an earthy father ... she is not fatherless. She has a Heavenly Father who loves her very much and then I said "I pray that He will apply the salve that your heart needs come Sunday morning".

She thanked me and we said goodbye. I'm pretty sure she knew that I didn't really need or want the gum. I walked over and collected my coffee ~ piping hot and never fresher ~ and headed to my car. Tears started to form and escape my eyes as I realized that I had just learned a very real, life lesson.

You see my coffee wasn't the only thing that was fresh;

                                     my perspective was now a little fresher, too...

We live in a society that has carefully, intentionally constructed walls and barriers. I do it and you do it. We don't want anyone to get too close or they may see the real us. Adding to this is the fact that we are content with building whatever persona we choose on social media. We can be whoever we want to be online. Now, I'm not dissing social media. I LOVE IT!! It's so much fun! I Facebook, I Tweet, and I Blog but we've all got to be careful. So careful!

We must never hide behind the social media nor expect others to do it. We must remember, there is still one thing that society cannot deny and that is the ache of the human heart. The empty place that only Christ can fill is very real.  Modern science cannot clone this empty place nor the remedy for it. Likewise, society and technology cannot heal it with all of their advances.

We were created for His great pleasure ~ for Him alone ~ and we will never find meaning apart from Him. We also need each other. That's called relationship. It involves compassion, community, consideration, caring!

Somebody in your circle of influence needs to hear this very thing from you. Their heart may be breaking, they may be spiraling out of control in their emotions, their burdens may be too heavy to shoulder alone. They may be losing their grip! Don't withhold truth and love from them. Don't withhold grace and mercy. You may not get a second chance.  Don't waste a single moment ~ someone's life may depend on it.

That's the life lesson I learned this morning...

More than likely, I will never know if the words I shared were the words she needed to hear, or if the simple truth I shared of God's love for her was a truth she's never heard before.

It grieves my heart to know that I almost walked away ~ unsure, afraid, too timid, unwilling to get involved. I almost missed the opportunity and we both may have missed a blessing. I'm so glad the Holy Spirit wouldn't let me leave. He's a persistent sort! He's really quite bossy! LOL!

I pray for that young lady to be covered with His pleasure, His favor, His love and adoration from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. I pray that for us all. We are desperate for Him. There's not a one of us that can make it on our own. We need our Father!

So consider ~

If you were blessed with a loving earthy Dad ~ and if he's still with you today ~ tell him you love him and appreciate him. But, if he's not with you any longer ~ thank God for the gift that he (your Dad) was to your life.

And consider,

If your heart aches from the lack of relationship, love, and attention of an earthly Dad ~ and if he's still with you today ~ forgive him. But, if he's no longer with you any longer ~ ask God to heal the wound. I promise you that He will.

But above all

I pray that you won't face another Father's Day weekend without knowing and receiving the lavish love that our Great God, our Heavenly Father, has for you. He loves you more than you can know and I'm praying Ephesians 3:14-21 over all of us ... lest we forget ....

             He has engraved us on the palms of His hand (Is. 49:16)         

                         He's a Father to the fatherless and Friend to the hopeless.

                                        There is no one to compare to our Heavenly Father.

Hope you have a Happy Father's Day!
Cindy K







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