Christ_empowered
Member
My dad and I used to have a strained relationship. I mean, very strained. Now...we don't, all because of Jesus. I used to blame my dad for everything, but then I came to the (difficult) realization that I was obviously not going to amount to anything, from a young age. Weird bone structure, whiney, effeminate, snot nosed...it was rough. I think a lot of what I perceived as "neglect" from my parents was just a normal human reaction to a kid they never expected who didn't quite "measure up" in their world (my parents are very well-educated, sophisticated, all that good stuff).
Anyway...my dad's been warming up to me, especially since I got saved. It helps that I'm now smart enough to go to Liberty online and perform well, sometimes quite well. It also helps that Jesus has seen fit to make me more than the "weakling" I was up to recently. No more: button nose, sickly-ness, alopecia, premature aging, sub-par intelligence. Add to that Christ's work in my parents' hearts and lives, and...yeah.
I wrote my dad a short letter for father's day. I thanked him for taking me into their house and teaching me how to be normal. I thought about it, and most parents would have had me sent away somewhere, kept in special ed classes, cut me off, sent me off to a group home, so on and so forth. Such is the life of a "weakling," I suppose. Its not really...unexpected, I guess. With all the problems I had before, I was the sort of offspring who used to get sent off to state mental hopsitals and/or kept in an attic or basement. No longer.
So, its great, and I"m glad that The Lord has done things for me and in the process hopefully reached my dad, to a point. Like...I think its going to take time for him to get truly saved. It was easier for me, because I was always faced with my sin-nature and bad-ness. He's well-educated, successful, all those things...I think he's still at the point where he can focus on Jesus loves us/me/him, but not so much on the deeper message of The Cross...forgiveness for our sins...because we all are sinners.
Sometimes, I think my dad's starting to regret not being there when I was younger, and not just because I have "Bipolar I w/ psychotic features," but also because I think now he sees me as a human being who just wanted his time for most of my life. Looking back, I think a lot of my "problems" growing up were family problems. My parents were working their way up, stressed out, lots of booze and I was hitting an awkward teenage stage, and...yeah. Now, I'm 30, about to be 31, and we're functioning...they love me, I love them, but...I sense something of a gap between us, and I don't know that we'll ever be as close as I'd like.
So, yet another Praise Report. For all the bitter sweet-ness around this father's day, I'm glad to be alive, glad my dad loves me, and glad that we can talk and be together now and then. I don't know if we'll ever be as close as I'd like, and I think that's true of a lot of offspring and their parents, especially men and their dads. Something about American culture, I dunno...a lot of fathers and sons just don't connect right.
Yup yup. Praise God for His work in my life and my parents' lives, particularly my dad. And please pray that both my parents can come to have true, saving faith in Christ Jesus.
Anyway...my dad's been warming up to me, especially since I got saved. It helps that I'm now smart enough to go to Liberty online and perform well, sometimes quite well. It also helps that Jesus has seen fit to make me more than the "weakling" I was up to recently. No more: button nose, sickly-ness, alopecia, premature aging, sub-par intelligence. Add to that Christ's work in my parents' hearts and lives, and...yeah.
I wrote my dad a short letter for father's day. I thanked him for taking me into their house and teaching me how to be normal. I thought about it, and most parents would have had me sent away somewhere, kept in special ed classes, cut me off, sent me off to a group home, so on and so forth. Such is the life of a "weakling," I suppose. Its not really...unexpected, I guess. With all the problems I had before, I was the sort of offspring who used to get sent off to state mental hopsitals and/or kept in an attic or basement. No longer.
So, its great, and I"m glad that The Lord has done things for me and in the process hopefully reached my dad, to a point. Like...I think its going to take time for him to get truly saved. It was easier for me, because I was always faced with my sin-nature and bad-ness. He's well-educated, successful, all those things...I think he's still at the point where he can focus on Jesus loves us/me/him, but not so much on the deeper message of The Cross...forgiveness for our sins...because we all are sinners.
Sometimes, I think my dad's starting to regret not being there when I was younger, and not just because I have "Bipolar I w/ psychotic features," but also because I think now he sees me as a human being who just wanted his time for most of my life. Looking back, I think a lot of my "problems" growing up were family problems. My parents were working their way up, stressed out, lots of booze and I was hitting an awkward teenage stage, and...yeah. Now, I'm 30, about to be 31, and we're functioning...they love me, I love them, but...I sense something of a gap between us, and I don't know that we'll ever be as close as I'd like.
So, yet another Praise Report. For all the bitter sweet-ness around this father's day, I'm glad to be alive, glad my dad loves me, and glad that we can talk and be together now and then. I don't know if we'll ever be as close as I'd like, and I think that's true of a lot of offspring and their parents, especially men and their dads. Something about American culture, I dunno...a lot of fathers and sons just don't connect right.
Yup yup. Praise God for His work in my life and my parents' lives, particularly my dad. And please pray that both my parents can come to have true, saving faith in Christ Jesus.
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