Daddy

If I was to ask you, what is your impression of the perfect father; what would you say? Could you answer and say... mine is; or was the perfect father? I can't. Why? Because like so many others in our society I grew up without a father.

In this country fathers (not all, but a lot) have been absent... abusive (physically and emotionally) lacking in love and family commitment... alcoholics or addicted to drugs or other materials that have caused them to do bad things to there children.

If you have or had a father like that, I know your pain. My father was removed from my life at 6 months old and I didn't meet him until I was 17. This absenteeism made it very difficult for me growing up. I had no one in my life that could give the support that a father is suppose to give. I'm not talking the ATM type of dad, I talking about the support system that is suppose to be in place to teach you how to grow and mature in life.

Because of this I developed my own group of mentors and role models... 2 problems; 1) I wasn't using very good discretion with my choices; 2) No one was around to let me know that my choices were bad.

When I finally was grown and on my own, I didn't realize it at first, but the lack of having a fatherly role model followed me into my own family and when I found out that I was going to be a dad... I didn't know how to act, so needless to say I didn't always do the right things or make the right choices. But one thing I knew... I wasn't going to leave my son and become and absentee father.

Growing up my grandfather and some of my relatives (mostly Italians) instilled into my mind that God was the Father type that as soon as you screwed up, He was going to beat you upside your head with a baseball bat. They never explained that He was a Father of love.

Here's the sad part of this story. As I got older... knowing something was missing in my life, I turned to God, and this was extremely hard because I expected God to react toward me like I was brought up.

Those who have had this type of up bringing understand, and if and when we turn to God we picture God will act or react like our earthly fathers did.

This is not true. God has unconditional love for you and even knows that you're not perfect. He knows you're going to make mistakes, and when you do, He doesn't blow a rod yelling, "get out, you're a nothing and you'll always be a nothing". He has a tender love that allows you to refocus and turn it around.

Psalm 9:10 "Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord do not abandon those who search for you." This means that God (the Father)will never cut out on us no matter what we are facing in our lives.

The ugly picture that well meaning people try to paint about the character of God is really a bad mental picture because God so loved the world, (mankind) that he gave His only Son (Jesus Christ) and whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life.

If you could begin to understand that God loves you, it may cause you to have a new desire; to build a relationship with Him as a father who is always present and is a wonderful role model with a plan for your life. There is a lot of scriptures that give us the real picture of God's character, all you have to do is open that Bible, open your heart and search.

There are times when I still battle this issue about God booting me to the curb but today this fact is settled in my heart... God is not a man that can lie and that means I can trust Him at His word.

He has taught me so much; like how to love... how to forgive and how to be a better father. I still haven't arrived but I thank God that I'm not were I use to be in my life.

Jesus loves you and so do I.
Jim "DoughBoy" Brady

Channel surfing

Have you ever had a bad day? That's really a rhetorical question because if you're heart is still beating and you have a pulse...then my bet is that you have. It doesn't matter who you are...a nice person or a bad person; we've all had bad days.



Here's the thing, what you do about those bad days is totally up to you. You can stare at them and watch them grow, (even if the problem or situation hasn't changed). Or you can change the channel. The choice is yours.



This morning I was awake way ahead of my almost normal time to get up. No matter what I tried I couldn't go back to sleep. You see I went to bed last night weighed down with a situation, (and in case you're wondering if I'm a bad person my answer is no...) we all have our moments.



Well I got up... because laying there wasn't doing me any good, I went to the kitchen, turned on the coffee and then headed to the living room to spend some quiet time and prayer. (Prayer if your unfamiliar with that term; is a conversation with God) As I prayed, I was still frustrated about the situation from last night, so I talked to God about it. (Get it...prayer)



I was directed to turn to Psalm 19; and because I know prayer is two way communication, I opened my Bible and read;



"The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display His marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies, yet the message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world."



This verse continues and if you want to know more please check it out... Psalm 19.



Well I went out side, coffee in hand and sat in my back yard. A few minutes later, the sun was rising and there were some low clouds, but as I watched; the bottoms of the clouds were changing from a gray to a beautiful red and orange color. Within minutes they changed colors again then in no time, it was a completely different picture.



God was at work, and this whole process took my focus off me and my situation to a beautiful picture that was being hand painted before my very eyes. Does God care...you bet. The heavens tell of His glory.



When your focus is on your problems...situations or whatever, it's easy to miss the glory of God. To often we get so wrapped up in ourselves that God is speaking but were too busy to change the channel, and we end up missing God in action.



Psalm 23:2 (NLT) "He lets me rest besides peaceful streams. He renews my strength."



"He lets me rest," By changing the channel it allowed me to quiet my anxious heart and also allowed me to rest my emotions. The best part is this; "it renewed my strength."



God is closer than you might imagine and He is trying to calm you down from all the calamity in your life; but you're going to have to make a choice. You can lie on the couch of discouragement or you can get up and change the channel. (No fair reaching for the remote) Get up!



If you change the channel; then sit and listen to what God is telling you, you'll notice that your problems that you made so huge were just a minor irritation, not a major crisis.

It all up to you, why not channel surf and see what else is on!

S.M.I.L.E.

Silent

Miracles

In

Life's

Experiences


God still loves you

Jim "DoughBoy" Brady

Grace and Mercy

Great day to be alive...no I really mean that.



Today is a special day for me...a celebration of the day I was born. Yet this article is not being written to honor me; this blog is being done today to honor a Father I have never seen but I know He's there. Let me explain.



When I look back over my shoulder, at my past; I know...I shouldn't be here writing this today. Why? (I'm glad you asked) Because the things I've done should have killed me long ago. If you need more details you can visit our web at hlfc.org and this will give you some more insight.



That's why today as I sat in my backyard early this morning watching my dog's run around (their names are Grace and Mercy; but this is not about them)I knew my Father was there with me and reminding me about His grace and mercy.



Some one awhile back made a statement to me that I haven't forgotten (that alone is a miracle) they said "Grace is God giving you what you DON'T deserve" and Mercy is "God NOT giving you what you DO deserve" My friends; this is the reality for my life; How about yours? Can you see that God has shown you a lot of Grace and Mercy?



When I think about that and look back; I know that God has cut me a lot of slack. Why? Why would He do that? Why not just leave me alone here to do things my way? Several reasons came to mind...but the biggest one is because He is my Father and just like a dad; He has a desire for me to do good. How many times have your kids done things wrong and you've shown them grace or mercy? When you do that for your children or others in your life...you do that because in reality you know (you may not admit this yet but you know) God has done that for you.



Today; 51 years old and I am seeing clearer that God has never left me by the side of the road to fend for myself (even though there have been times in my life where it has felt like that) He was right there.



I want you to understand; I'm not talking about becoming religious...I'm talking about a real relationship. When your in a relationship you spend time together... you learn about each other. When you get to the point in your life where you realize how much God has showered you with His grace and mercy you fall in love... and this is where the relationship starts; not ends but the beginning point of a turn around.



No matter what you've gone through...God is aware and is closer than you might imagine, yet because we're still on the Earth and we're still human beings we attempt to become our own god and try to do things in our own ways... I don't know about you, but that didn't work out very well for me. (Just being honest here)



My challenge for you today if you've gotten this far in this article is to look at your life and ask yourself... is this true? Has God shown me grace and mercy when I haven't really deserved it? If your answer is yes... why not sit back and become thankful for the things that God hasn't allowed to happen to you. If you think about it in honesty...I bet you can come up with a lot of areas in your life that His Love...Grace and Mercy has covered you.



Become thankful...and give God some respect...He knows His job and and He can do it well.

If you met me and forget me; you've lost nothing... if you met God and forget Him; you've lost everything.



I Love you and God bless you.

Jim "DoughBoy" Brady