Fathers day. Eh.
This morning, wasn't too fun. I went to church as usual. The church that I attend is beautiful. Seeing the generations of love, faith, and commitment to Jesus Christ, well, it is just a beautiful thing. The admiration and respect I have for the leadership and members of First Baptist is immense. There are so many families that you can witness generation after generation of service to Jesus Christ, actually I think that about 95% of our church is related haha. It is actually what attracted me to attend First Baptist and I have never regretted going there, I truly love it. That is what I want for my future. I want to be the change. I want the family I have to be one that serves Jesus Christ wholeheartedly. I want my children and grandchildren to be faithful to serving and loving Jesus.
That being said, being a young single person attending church alone isn't always easy. All of my life, I went to church with my mom at a different church. It is a church with wonderful people, but there were some things I didn't agree with doctrinally, and I felt called to attend First Baptist. My senior year I started attending there.
All of that is a preface to this morning. It was a normal Sunday morning. I walked in the sanctuary, fashionably late of course, and found a seat. Like I said, my church is HUGE on family stuff, which I think is really awesome. This morning was fathers day. This summer has been really hard. I'm not going into detail, but, my dad isn't really part of my life and hasn't been for a long time. Seeing all of the dads stand up, all the dads get their little books for father's day, seeing kids hug their dads, seeing facebook posts about people's wonderful dads. Well, its hard and I've been jealous. There, I said it, I've been jealous, really jealous.
I feel like all huge things in my life, I can relate to an epic run. Weird, I know, but running is a way for me to get everything out. Its just me, God, and my running shoes hitting the pavement. Tonight was one of those epic runs. God really convicted me of my selfishness. He convicted me of focusing on things that have been taken away rather than all of the blessings that He has lavished on me. I've been focusing on losing my hall/leadership family for next year, the hard things I'm facing rather than all of the incredible ways He has blessed me. I am His daughter, He is my Daddy, Abba. Tonight as I was debriefing on what I felt God spoke to me during that run I came accross this passage of scripture that I found so comforting and uplifting.
Galatians 4:4-7 "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir."
He chose to adopt me. He chose to be my Dad. He chose to take on the challenge of raising sinful, awful, rebelious me. He knows everything I've done, He knows every thought that has passed through my mind. He sees all and knows all and He chose to be my Abba. He sent His only, perfect Son to die a horrible death and carry the weight of sin so He could adopt me. He chose to be my Daddy. He chose to make me an heir. He didn't just save me from my chains of sins and an eternity of suffering in Hell, He chose to give me an inheritance, to treat me as His very own.
I have so much to be thankful for SO MUCH. I really can't get over it. I'm tearing up out of joy right now. I could write a hundred page blog about all of the things I am thankful for, but I don't think many people would read it haha :) For this blog I just wanted to end it with a specific thankyou to two of my favorite people and the best family I could ask for.
Benjamin Allen Doughty, you are the MAN! I love you so much, as my roomate, Rachel would say, bastante. You have overcome the odds, you have fought through hard battles, you have chosen to follow Jesus. Words can't describe how proud I am of you. How proud I am to call Ben Doughty my brother. You are amazing, you exemplify the characteristics of Jesus Christ in the way that you treat me. You are probably the hardest working man that I know, yet you also genuinely care about people. You can rip and tear in yardwork, but you still are an awesome cook :) Thank you for being my big brother. I love you so much. Whoever gets to marry you is going to be an incredibly blessed woman, but she will have to get through me first ;)
I'm saving the best for last. My mom. I don't think I could ever tell her enough how much she means to me or how proud I am of her. She is an amazing woman. Her prayers have gotten me through so many hard times. I don't tell her nearly enough how much I love her or how thankful I am for her. She derserves the biggest "Happy Fathers Day" because she's done both. She's worked hard to help my brother and I go to school and provide for us. She is one of the most beautiful people I know. She's put up with my shenanigans and seen me through the best and worst times. She's my mom, but also one of my dearest friends. She follows Jesus, even when life is really hard. I admire and love my mom so much.
I am so blessed for God to have placed me in this family. Everything He does is in His plan. He is amazing, perfect, loving. Glory be to His name. I love you Abba and thank you.
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