Night and Day

Recently, a friend of mine came to the Lord and got saved. It has brought back many memories of when I first came to believe. When I listen to her share, I could cry at the vast differences between her experiences with the Lord and mine. I thought at first that the reason for her experiences being so positive and mine being such a struggle at times, was the differences in our age. When I got saved, I was in my 20's and she is in her 50's, so of course it's going to be easier. But then I hear about her relationship with her daddy and it's starting to slowly make sense. She shares about how her and her three sisters would squeal with joy when their father got home from work. They would run up and hug him and fight over who got to comb his hair, rub his shoulders, remove his shoes... Then they would rummage through his lunch pail and pick out what goodies were left over. They gave him facials and pedicures. She shared how she and her three sisters would dance with their father and how safe and loved they felt by him. Even on her Facebook, is a photo of her dancing with her father...not knowing that would be the last one... What gets me about the photo is the way he looks at her with eyes full of love. Now, in contrast, and this is not to bad mouth my father (God rest his soul) but when he did have a job, and came home...we had to be quiet! We were not allowed to really talk to him until after he had a nap and dinner. After mom remarried, he was threatened (this is what we were told) that if he came around, he would be beaten by my stepdad. Ten years passed by with no father. In my opinion, they were the most crucial 10 years. I'm not saying there were no good times with my dad because there were. But, us three girls didn't have a relationship with our father like what my friend and her three sisters had. It's as different as night and day. As an adult though, we reconnected and I did have some precious moments with my dad before he died. I did love my father but one time he did say that I wasn't his daughter and that stuck. My relationship with the Lord has been one of testing Him to see if he would leave me...or say I wasn't His kid (I tried everything to push Him away). It took years, and I mean years, for me to figure out that my Father in heaven was serious when He said He'd never leave me nor forsake me and that no one or no thing could snatch me out of His hand. So, I rejoice with my friend and as I share with her my relationship with my Heavenly Father, I can tell her with 100% conviction that once you are saved, you are always saved! Trust me. I would know!!