“I won’t leave you as orphans…'” Jn.14:18
Lord Jesus, on this Father’s Day weekend, we’re grateful for the cloud of witnesses, dads-in-many-forms, wingless angels, and grace-thirsty friends you’ve woven into our heart and stories. Whether our relationship with our biological dads have been stellar or “in the cellar”—over-the-moon or “lost in space,” you have been generous to come to us and love us in a multitude of creative ways. Thank you, Jesus. We want to be and do the same for others.
When you promised not to leave us as orphans, we know you were talking about the soon-coming gift of the Holy Spirit (Jn.14:18). But we didn’t realize the Spirit would “show up”—not just as a permanent resident in our hearts, but also as the means by which Abba’s love would come to us in a multitude of ways through a variety of two-legged grace conduits.
Who are they? Here are just a few of many I remember this Father’s Day weekend. Ma and Pa Compton, and Ma and Pa Allen—two neighborhood families in Graham, N. C. who both said to me after my mom’s death, “Son Scott, you’ll always have a chair at our table and a bed in our home.” You were behind all of that Jesus, right? Thank you.
And my first disciplers, JL and Patt Williams—barely 25 years old when they welcomed me as an 18-year-old, two-weeks-old-in-Christ self into their hearts and home in Burlington, N. C. Their impact was profound. And my Granny Ward and my Aunt Cynthia—like a decades long tag team of mercy, these two amazing women and titans of tenacity, would not let me remain unseen, forgotten, or uncared for—both great lovers of you and survivors of much.
In the mid 70’s, you wove Jack and Rose Marie Miller into my heart, story, and reparenting journey. Through them, Jesus, you gave me Gospel-sanity, missions-fever, theological stability, and Spirit spontaneity. Hallelujah and thank you 10,000 times over.
Jesus, you’ve enriched me and Darlene with grace-smelling-friends too old to pretend but still young enough to have fun. You’ve give us various expressions of a “Gospel-Posse” to long, lament, and laugh with—partners in mutual encouragement, quicker repentances, and indefatigable hope. Thank you Jesus. So Very Amen.