We went to a new church nearby our house today and they were doing baptisms. One of the women shared she had been raised in an unloving home. Her mother never told her she loved her; her mother never held her or affirmed her. She shared how though she believed in God growing up; she felt His view of her was based on disappointment and even disgust. Then she came to a true revelation that God loves her and is a good Father coming to her to bring healing instead of condemnation. I cried through her testimony. This is the true gospel message–what was broken can be redeemed, what was previously damaged can be fully restored.

Dad lived this message. He and my mom came from this story. I rejoice that my family line is utterly transformed for good. The next person who was baptized shared she had come from a very religious home but that her family used religiosity as a pretense to cover up the abuse she experienced. Her parents created a sanctimonious façade to protect the dark secrets taking place. This woman had come to realize that though God was proclaimed in her home, her parents never knew God. She also stepped into the healing truth. Both stories are very similar, women from homes where love and God are absent. I am thankful for the opportunity to witness these women’s journey of baptism. Their awakening into the realization that abuse is not love and that God is love and is always present for healing, restoration, and transformation. I am thankful Dad made this kind of true Christianity real in my life by being a dad who modeled this transformative life.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

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