tuesday marks 3 months of sobriety for my dad. as much as i want to celebrate his accomplishments, i keep pushing it to the side. the bigger celebration for him is that he has surrendered his life to jesus. this is something i never thought i would witness. to be honest, i thought i was going to lose my father this year, i thought this would be the year that his body just gave up. well, obviously i was way off. i have reached a whole new level of humility as i have seen my father move from dependence on alcohol and drugs to dependence on our savior. the power of jesus is limitless, nothing is out of his hands. in the moments where i thought there was no hope, jesus still had control. it really blows my mind.
i took the following image of my parents on sunday at church.
look at those smiles. i see so much life in my dad. the only times i have seen life and joy in his face have been in pictures from when i was a young girl. it is so refreshing to see his smile and his eyes light up. he has a purpose in life now and the only person behind this miracle was god. he orchestrated so many people and so many miracles the day i walked my dad into rehab. without my church and pastors my dad would still be an addict, his marriage would still be in shambles, and his days would be full of depression, regret, and pain. it makes me smile to know that he is a new creation in christ. the old is gone and the new remains. his life has just begun.
looking back at my dad’s story, i have a new perspective on resurrection. jesus brought my dad back from a place of death. no one else in the world could have done this. my dad had lost his brother to drugs and alcohol last year, he lost most of his friends because of his addiction, he had no relationship with my older sister or myself, and was on the verge of seeing his wife walk out on him after almost 30 years of marriage…none of this even made him think twice about getting help. after 15 years of abusing alcohol and drugs, jesus pulled my dad out of his addictions and gave him a new life. there is no other explanation. the resurrection of jesus changed everything for us and thousands of years later he is resurrecting all of his children. he is giving us back our wasted years and giving us all a new life in him. crazy? yes. real? heck yes.
