My Bible reading this morning hit upon a topic I have needed to address for a while.  Somehow, God knew today is the day for driving home a biblical point I have been overlooking.  It comes from Luke 6:27-28.  In verse 27 Jesus is telling the crowd that we are to “love our enemies and those who hurt you”.  In verse 28 He goes on to say that along with loving them, we are to bless these same people.  What hit me this morning was brought to the surface when I gave my testimony (story) to the church last Sunday night.  In my testimony I tell a great deal about the hurt and abuse of my past from dad.  I tell how I was able to say, “I love you” to his body when I was called to say he had passed away.  I’d gone to the nursing home where his body lay until the funeral home arrived to remove it.  I hurried over so I could talk to dad.  However, I have never, ever, tried to give blessing to dad.  Up until this very moment I think I’d have politely walked away from anyone who might have suggested such a thing.

Last summer my younger brother told me it troubles him having dad’s name slurred by my book and my testimony.  After all, he is our dad and there was some good about him he’d say.  I took that as Ron’s problem, not mine.  Since then I’ve had numerous occasions where God has brought that message up to me when I’m counseling someone or giving my testimony.  This morning God brought the message home.  God does want me to bless my dad.  It is the fullness of forgiveness.  My dad has been gone for well over 10 years now so my first thought was that it’s too late.  However, in asking God how I’d handle this He simply said I need to balance my remarks about dad by adding what is good about him.  As I was journaling this morning I listed the things I liked about dad.  The thing I liked the most was when he’d come to our bed early in the morning when he was trying to decide something.  He’d always say, “Earn or (Dern-a nickname), are you awake?”  After that he’d go on to tell what he was considering or pondering and ask what I thought about it.  He’d usually include Ron in this too as we always slept together.  As a teen these moments made me feel like I was important to him.  I always liked the fact that dad had a compulsive side  that was fun.  When we would be planning to go to California for Christmas, he’d up and decide we will leave right now.  Everyone would have to pack in a couple hours notice and off we’d go.  That was FUN.

As I treasure these moments I can thank dad for these things about him.  In fact, it is heart-warming just to write them out like this.  My dad did do some awful things as a parent but just as Celebrate Recovery teaching me, these awful things in our lives are not our identity, they are our struggle.  These things about my dad were his struggle.  I do not want to make someone think that was his identity.  God had a whole different identity for him just as He does for me.