march 7, 2024 #livingoutluke252

march 7, 2024

daily documenting #livingoutluke252 

It’s been 27 years since my dad passed away.

There was a time when I was very close with my dad. I remember wanting to be him when I grew up, beard and all. The last few years of his life our relationship was rocky. So I have a mix of feelings and emotions when it comes to my dad. But something I am forever grateful to my dad for was that he really gave me a love for God’s Word. He would read me the Bible every night and I would beg him to read me more and more until I fell asleep. Those moments created in me a deep love for the Bible and planted seeds in my soul that turned into a harvest that now feeds my own children. 

The day after he died, I remember standing on our back porch knowing that God was very present with me. That was the moment that catapulted me into a journey of knowing Jesus wholly and fully for myself because I no longer had my pastor of a dad to ask questions to about God. 

I’ve always believed that my faith in Jesus had to be all or nothing. Either He was real and I was to going to give everything to Him or He wasn’t. Living in the in-between of casual faith has never made sense to me. So the day after my dad died I knew I had to go to God for myself and find out what I truly believed. It marked me forever. I had to know, without any doubts, that God was real. God became my Father, my friend and my closest confidant. My father’s death turned into life for me. 

God has always walked closely to me since I was little. I have memories and moments, so close with Jesus it’s as if I was face to face with Him. I’ve felt held by Him all my life. Even in my own times of rebellion, I knew He was near. I spent years of my life sleeping with my Bible next to me because it was the only thing that gave me peace. His Word is living and powerful. The truth in it and the realness of Jesus changed my life forever. 

Never underestimate the power of reading scripture out loud to your children. It has the power to save their souls and change their lives for generations to come.