“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” –Peggy O’Mara
A father’s likes, for example, sports, politics, music, or cars, etc., becomes the language in which a father speaks to his children and which they speak to themselves.
The fact that many fathers do not listen with their hearts is why so many sons and daughters remain disconnected from their dads. His children may not like sports, politics, or music, etc., and therefore have nothing to say. I meet so many people obsessed with sports, politics, drugs, drinking, etc., because this is the only way that they can relate to or speak with their fathers.
Many people have no idea as to why they like or do these things, and rarely make the connection that they do these things because this was their father’s language – this is how they’ve learned to gain their father’s approval, acceptance, and his attention.
My father’s language was politics and technology. I found myself learning all I could about current political events and the latest technological gadget, so I would have something to say to my dad. I wanted my father’s approval — his acceptance and respect, so I learned his language. The sad part is that my relationship with my father was always in the shallows and never at the level and depth of heart and soul. Sadly, this became my language also between my own sons and daughter.
One day, I inspected a water-damaged home in Antioch, California, with the homeowner and his family present. All the decorations in the kitchen, family room, and master bedroom were covered with San Francisco 49er’s paraphernalia – I mean, it was everywhere! After I was completed with my task, the husband asked me:
“So, do you watch sports? … what do you think of those 49ers?”
I replied:
I don’t watch or like sports all that much.
His facial expression intimated shock and amazement!
I further replied:
… You like sports because this was the only way you could speak with your father and gain his attention and approval.
I glanced at his wife, and her face suddenly lit up with shock!
She quickly replied:
“MY GOSH, THAT’S SO TRUE!”
The husband just stood there, with his mouth opened, with the expression as though his best friend had just died!
You begin to learn how powerful for good, or evil, our father’s likes, especially when they become the mechanism of speech or language with their children. Right? Just as Peggy O’Mara wrote,
“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.”
The Bible points this out in the last book of the Old Testament, and in the very last two verses:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” –Malachi 4: 5-6.
Do you see?
If the fathers do not turn their hearts to their children, the earth will be cursed. What curses the world is silent fathers and fathers that do not speak from their hearts. This, in turn, causes children not to speak from their hearts also. Instead, their relationship with their dads is in the shallows. Very little, to no life pass from the father to their children. Sadly, this lack of transaction creates an emotional and relational deficit from generation to generation.
Proverbs 4: 23 puts it this way:
“Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”
If you’re a father, change the language from sports, politics, or anything that keeps your relationship with your kids in shallow places and listen and speak from your heart. From your heart flows the springs of life. Your kids can’t live successful, healthy, and full lives without the spring of life from your heart. Your words and language matter. It’s a matter of life and death!
We dads have the power of life and death in our speech with our kids, young or old. Our words have the power to build or destroy the future of our children. It is never too late to speak from our hearts.
Help build your children’s future and speak the language of love.
It’s those forgotten little memories that can change everything!
Early in 1998, my brother called and told me that my dad was dying of cancer and that dad was asking for me.
When I heard this, I was very upset. Not that my father was dying, mind you, but that he’d asked for me. I needed him all my life, and now, he’s asking for me?
“Tell Dad I’m not coming!” I replied.
I have four brothers and a sister, and they all called me, urging me to visit Dad. A week or so went by, and I finally caved into the pressure.
I first visited my dad in the Contra Costa County Hospital, as the VA in Martinez, California, was short on beds. There, he lay in a bed surrounded by adjustable rails. My younger brother, John, and my mother were present.
My mom pulled me aside to tell me the seriousness of Dad’s esophageal cancer. She said, “It doesn’t look good, I’ve researched the prognosis, and he doesn’t have much time left.” By the time I had visited my father, he’d already been battered by chemotherapy and every other treatment.
The cancer had permanently closed up his esophagus, and he could no longer swallow but was fed through a feeding tube, which was surgically inserted through the side of his abdomen and directly into his stomach. My father was so frightened; I had never seen him so fragile and helpless.
Since things did not look good for my dad, I called one of my pastors from our church in Danville, California, called East Bay Fellowship, which I was attending with my wife and kids. I asked if Pastor Allan Shrewsbury could come by and pray over my father in the hope that it would give him some comfort.
Pastor Allan quickly arrived, praying with my dad and confirming my father’s faith and trust in Jesus Christ as his Savior.
It was getting late, and we began to ready ourselves to leave when I noticed tears filling my father’s eyes, along with the room filling with a sense of heaviness. It seemed as though this might be our last goodbye. I think the feeling of; “he may not make it through the night” hit all of us at the same time.
Compassion began to rise within my heart. I leaned over his bedrail and gently kissed my father’s unshaven face. His prickly whiskers caused my lips to tingle. My brother John leaned in and kissed our dad, as did my mom, and then we all tried to convince and reassure him that he would be fine as we slowly left the room.
As John and I walked out together towards the parking lot, my lips still tingling, I said:
“John, there is something strangely familiar about kissing dad.” I continued:
“My lips—they’re still tingling!”
John responded:
“What’s up with you, Tom? Don’t you remember when we were little kids, we’d line up in front of dad’s favorite chair and kiss him goodnight on his cheek, and he’d say with a smile,
’… Don’t let the bedbugs bite!’”
All of a sudden, good memories came flooding into my mind. That gentle kiss on my father’s unshaven face was a key to my dungeon of despair and loneliness. All my years of anger, bitterness, and hatred; all my doubts and unforgiveness, all swallowed up from the tingly whiskers of my father’s unshaven face!
After that moment, I couldn’t wait to see my father. I saw him over the next several months as often as I could.
Several weeks before my dad passed away, a nurse came into his hospital room, asking:
“Who is your executor and healthcare director?”
My father lifted his feeble arm and pointed in my direction. I turned to see if one of my two older brothers was behind me, but there was no one.
For some, this would have been an unwelcome appointment, a burden, but for me, it meant I had my father’s complete and utter trust and respect. The significance of my dad’s appointment was a paradigm shift for me, possibly one of my most life-affirming events.
Later, I learned that my father had consulted with my mother about whom he should appoint as Trustee of his estate and healthcare. My mother agreed with my dad on his final choice. My sister, Laurie, was also named co-trustee. Simply amazing!
A few weeks later, my dad’s condition was worsening. His organs were beginning to show signs of shutting down. At this point, my siblings and I would trade off, spending the night with Dad alone.
Finally, it was my turn. It was October 7, 1998. I arrived shortly after the dinner hour. A nurse brought in a cot with a blanket and a pillow for me to sleep on. My dad and I talked for quite a while, mostly about politics, which was my dad’s favorite topic. Soon, it was lights out, which never happens in a hospital.
As I lay there, realizing the significance of this moment with my dad, I knew if I didn’t say what was indeed on my heart now, that this moment would be lost forever. You see, my father had never told me that he loved me. I was thirty-nine years old, and my dad was about to turn sixty-nine the next day. I wanted so much to hear those words from him; no, I needed to hear those words from him—something in me was guiding me and granting me the courage to say what I needed to say:
“Dad?”
“Yes, son?” he replied
Dad … I love you!” I said cautiously.
Only mere seconds passed by, but it felt like years.
“… I love you too, son,” Dad replied.
I exchanged “I love you” with my dad for what seemed like all night long! I said those precious and life-giving words, which he echoed back:
“I love you too, son.”
All my hate and anger against my dad had washed away, and now for good! I heard the three most important words every son or daughter needs to hear:
“I love you, son!”
“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” — Malachi 4: 5-6
The days of the “curse” were finally over for me. For a greater spirit than Elijah had entered that hospital room that night. The Spirit of the Living God had softened the hearts of father and son, and the mess I had made of my life suddenly became beautiful!
“His wrath, you see, is fleeting, but His grace lasts a lifetime. The deepest pains may linger through the night, but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning.” — Psalms 30:5
My dad, while broken with cancer, poured into me so much life and hope, and, in such a short time! The man whom I had despised all of my life was my dad, with whom I just fell in love but who is now leaving.
The morning came, with it, a smile and a “Happy Birthday, Dad!”
It was October 8, 1998, and my father wanted to get cleaned up for his Birthday. He said:
“Tom, get my shaving bag, it’s over there, in that cabinet.”
“Here it is, Dad,” I replied.
“Okay, get my Electric Shave lotion and my razor out,” my dad directed, and then he asked:
“Son, will you shave my face?”
This may sound silly, but this was the most intimate moment I’ve ever had with my father. The whiskers that tingled my lips and softened the hardness of my heart, the mouth that finally spoke: “I love you too, son,” was the face I was about to care for and shave.
“The deepest pains may linger through the night, but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning.”
… and I shaved my father’s face.
That is why I would not change a single moment of my life. The pain is swallowed up in the sweetness of heartfelt forgiveness and the “I love yous.” For what had become broken has now been given, and the mess of my life has now become beautiful!
Four days later, on October 12, 1998, my father passed away. At his right-hand side, I stood a restored and beloved son, loved and approved. As life was quickly draining from my dad, he looked up towards the ceiling, letting out his final breath; he smiled, his heartbeat stopped, and we wept loudly in the grief of our great loss! I then reached over his body and closed my father’s eyes.
He died my hero triumphantly and bravely; he faced death and passed from this life into the heart of God.
“Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?” – I Corinthians 15:55
While this was both a painful and magical time for me, these events with my father were a new beginning and a paradigm shift for my present and future.
I can honestly say that God used the final moments of my father’s life to make me into a better man, a restored son, and a better father.
Letting my anger for my father go allowed love to come bursting in. Becoming my father’s beloved son made it possible for me to believe I could be God’s beloved son, too.
Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite. I’ll see you in heaven. I love you, dad!
“Above all else, guard your heart, for from it flows the wellspring of life.” – Proverbs 4:23
Your heart is so critical to your redemption that it is the first thing the enemy attacks! He attacks it when it’s very young, vulnerable, and imaginative, able to believe in the unbelievable.
“For one believes with his heart and is justified, and declares with his mouth and is saved.” – Romans 10:10
If The Evil One is successful in his assaults against our hearts, his work will cancel our justification and shut our mouth’s declaration of salvation.
This warfare is so profound that it’s the last thing mentioned in the Old Testament and the first thing in the New Testament! If our hearts are not restored, our land and lives will be cursed. And this is the plight of so many lives—lives, whereby the heart has been so treacherously wounded that everything is cursed.
But, there is hope! Please read on.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” – Malachi 4: 5-6
Who was the great prophet spoken of by Malachi?
It was John the Baptist. His preaching, as it says, prepared people for the Messiah. – Luke 1:17…
“… And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.”
Our hearts do indeed matter, and unfortunately, it is the battleground that the Enemy first strikes.
I can think of no greater scene than from the movie Spider-Man (2002), which powerfully demonstrates the evil one’s scheme…
Green Goblin: Spider-Man is all but invincible; but Parker, we can destroy him.
Norman Osborn: I can’t.
Green Goblin: Betrayal must not be countenanced! Parker must be educated.
Norman Osborn: What do I do?
Green Goblin: Instruct him in the matters of loss and pain. Make him suffer, make him wish he were dead.
Norman Osborn: Yes?
Green Goblin: And then grant his wish.
Norman Osborn: But how?
Green Goblin: The cunning warrior attacks neither body nor mind.
Norman Osborn: TELL ME HOW!
Green Goblin: The HEART, Osborn. First, we attack his heart.
If you’re going to live from and believe with your heart, and I highly recommend that you do, you must armor up and ready yourself for the onslaught of your life. Why? Because the Enemy fears and hates nothing more than a man or woman living from their heart. The heart is where the God of the Angel Army dwells!
This is why before most of us had reached the age of eleven or twelve, that we encountered “heart attacks,” that is, a vicious assault on our heart— the very center of our being.
“The cunning warrior attacks neither body nor mind—first, he attacks the heart.”
If you, like me, have suffered attacks of the heart, while young and impressionable, there is hope and healing. As a matter of fact, there is nothing so vital as the healing of your heart. Your heart is so vital that Jesus of Nazareth read the following from the ancient scrolls at the very beginning of his earthly mission:
“The Spirit of the Almighty Lord is with me because the Lord has anointed me to deliver good news to humble people. He has sent me to heal those who are brokenhearted, to announce that captives will be set free and prisoners will be released.” – Isaiah 61:1
Your heart matters to God—you matter to God. The cunning warrior shall not win this battle against your heart. The battle belongs to the Lord. He’s defeated the enemy on the cross. All you must do is believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, and you shall be saved and healed. Don’t be afraid, be saved! Amen
If you fight for Truth, you’re fighting for love, too.
Evil is most dangerous, not when it hides in obscurity, but when it is plainly flaunted; when it dances in the light and no one seems to care.
Society and culture is most dangerous when Truth is expunged from all sectors of education, authority, and governments.
You see, Truth isn’t toppled over night, that’s both impossible and impractical. Rather, Truth is slowly dismantled over time, through intentual gradualisim; through political and philosophical progressivism. What We see and understand as new philosophies, such as “wokeism,” “equity,” and “inclusion,” are ingeniously designed philosophies to deconstruct Truth.
Why? Why deconstruct Truth?
Because Truth is synonymous with freedom. Freedom is synonymous with self-governance and self-governance means small and limited government. Truth is our protection against tyrannical and demonic despots and a government that seeks to become our master.
This is why we must never cease our Love for Truth. If Truth is lost, Love is lost!
As Martin Luther King Jr. has once said:
“Darkness can not drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate can not drive out hate; only love can do that.”
When evil that has been exposed by light and is darkened by our indifference, then even love has little hope of driving out hate.
Our society has completely flipped. What was once evil has become good, and what was once good has become evil. How about Harrison Butker, of the Kansas City Chiefs’ placekicker, and his amazing commencement address at Benedictine College on May 11, 2024? Everything which he addressed was bedrock truth. But he’s being attacked for insensitivity and for espousing hate speech. “Hate speech” is the new label for what used to be sound, biblical, and historical truth. This lable has, unfortunately, become the “new norm.”
Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He clearly understood how to change truth into lies and lies into truth.
“Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” Vladimir Lenin – April 22, 1870 – January 21, 1924
And so, truth becomes lost to our children, as does the meaning of love.
Sex is no longer the act of consummating marriage but is an uncommitted, casual contact between two, maybe three or more humans. Sex has become merely a recreational act and is void of meaning, truthfulness, and love. When truth, and the consequences of ones actions have been removed, so also is the true meaning of love removed from relationships, our families, communities; all the way to the highest offices of the land.
Femininity and masculinity have been redefined away from historical and cultural norms. Your chromosomal makeup at conception and birth no longer conceals the truth of your sexuality. Really? The “new truth” says your sexuality is a choice, a mere preference. Or, you can simply decide to be non-binary without sexual identity. These “new truths” are becoming enshrined as new norms and therefore protected by anti-discrimination laws.
Ralph Keyes, a notable author and speaker, has said in his book, The Post-Truth Era: Dishonesty and Deception in Contemporary Life:
“We are living in a post-truth era.”
He further writes:
“… This is post-truth. In the post-truth era, borders blur between truth and lies, honesty and dishonesty, fiction, and nonfiction. Deceiving others becomes a challenge, a game, and ultimately a habit. Research suggests that the average American tells lies on a daily basis. These fibs run the gamut from “I like sushi,” to “I love you.”
There is no more denying the fact that 85 to 90 percent of America’s News Agencies are no longer after truth, but salacious morsels of lies, misstatements, innuendos, rumors and gossip, all of which are used to create and shape stories or events. This propels politicians or ideologies towards unpopular agendas that we all allow to become law, and not necessarily in favor of the Republic, nor its political, economical or educational future.
Facts, truth, and context are ingredients that are purposely left out of important stories, as truth may become too damaging or too politically incorrect, or it may be too offensive. Ideology has become more important than truth. Hate, not love, is purposely weaponized to move agendas that are void of common sense and common decency. Love, honor, and respect are nowhere in sight and are replaced with lies and cover-ups.
So, out of “sensitivity,” we lie. For the sake of political ambition, we lie. For the sake of legislation, we lie. For the sake of “National Security,” we lie. We lie and lie about all these significant national and societal changing events.
For example, legislation that delivers health insurance for the uninsured, but then impacts those with health insurance, which in turn causes them to lose the insurance due to cost. And, their doctor? Well, he had to take an early retirement due to oppressive regulations and a reduction in pay.
This happened under the guise of “truth” and “fairness.” The politicians used lies to force an “Affordable” Healthcare Care system, which, by design, became an unaffordable healthcare system that would eventually force us all into a single-payer system of socialized redistributive medical services.
The Bible says, in Mathew chapter 5, verse 37:
“Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one.”
So, in matters of oaths and speaking truth, if we say yes, but mean no, or say no, but mean yes, our words come from the evil one – from the dark side.
We are all capable of lying. But,when a society accepts lies and miss-truths from its leadership, tenured educators, politicians and news outlets and cable networks, the whole of our culture and society follows suit, and we then become a Nation of liars and therefore become enslaved to lies. Lies leads people to slavery and not freedom. Lies leave us uninformed.
A notable politician and former presidential candidate has said:
“We want people to be uniformed but compliant.”
… Hmm, uninformed? … Compliant?
… In other words, politicians want us, no, they demand that we accept lies and ignore truth, and if we become “compliant,” we shall have peace. People, this is straight from the Father of Lies!
You see, when truth can no longer be tolerated or is too politically insensitive, we allow ourselves to become uninformed. And, if uninformed, we then become compliant, as there are no boundaries between truth and lies. No more ethical “black and white” as everything becomes gray and meaningless.
Relativism is replacing realism. Reality TV is actually un-reality TV, portraying and selling itself as the new norm, as the “new truth.”
When truth is lost, love is lost. Because love, real love, requires truth. Real love is colorful, not gray, and sadly, the days are becoming more and more gray.
To be uninformed and compliant is the definition of slavery. For you become a slave to whatever and whomever has mastered you.
If you fight for Truth, you’re fighting for Love, too.
Truth or Lies?
The choice is yours. Choose Truth, and Love wins also.
If you listen to a lie long enough, it unfortunately will replace truth.
Balaam was an authentic Old Testament prophet of God. However, he was a greedy prophet who was approached by the King of the Moabites. The king greatly feared the Israelites and offered Balaam a great deal of money to curse Moses and the Israelite people. – Numbers, chapters 21-25
So, Balaam tried several times to curse Moses and God’s people.
Each time Balaam intended to proclaim a curse, he could only bless God’s people. So the king grew tired and fired the wayward prophet.
Balaam went home defeated and unpaid.
Balaam, still determined to please the Moabite King, thought of a way to curse God’s people. He decided to make a new deal with the King. He told the King that while God prevented him from declaring a curse and instead only a blessing, he thought of a way to get God’s people to sin. He further explained that God would remove his protection from his people, making the Israelites vulnerable to attack.
So the Moabite King agreed, and the King sent in his prostitutes and idolaters.
The prostitutes slept with the men of Israel, and the women purchased the idols and began worshiping the gods of Moab. God saw from Heaven the sin in the camp of Israel. He, therefore, removed his blessing of protection, and so the people started to die.
People, this is happening right now through Biden’s executive orders and the intentions of the House leaders. Their wokeism and Leftist ideologies are inciting America to sin so that God’s blessings and protection will be removed. They are getting Americans to kill their unborn. The killing of its elderly, the perversion of justice, and the protection of pedophiles. We have tolerated the appointment of evil people to political positions and woke judges and DAs.
We are currently witnessing the politicisation of our judicial system and the rise of a new and dangerous terminology called “lawfare.” This new form of warfare is against America’s own citizens and political enemies of the far Left, using the courts to silence political detractors and so destroy justice.
Like the old prophet Balaam, these godless politicians worship power and money. They promote the advancement of Communism and Marxism. The destruction of our religious liberties and the indoctrination and perversion of our children.
The sins of America are causing God to remove His blessing, and His divine protection is lessening day by day.
We need our Pastors and Priests to be like Arron’s grandson, Phinehas, who acted with great zeal and reverence before the Lord. Phinehas acted while Moses and Arron talked about a solution rather than doing something. God was, therefore, pleased with Arron’s grandson, and so God stopped the death of His people, defeating the conspiracy of the King of Moab and the greedy prophet’s scheme.
“The Lord spoke to Moses, Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with My zeal, so that I did not destroy the Israelites in my anger.” – Numbers 25: 10-11
We must stand against our day’s evil with great passion and zeal before the Lord. Instead, the past stolen election and national lockdown showed the Lord and the enemies of America that the American people do not have the passion and zeal to stop the advancement of evil and darkness.
Child pornography, child sex trafficking, and abortion haven’t caused a scintilla of righteous indignation of God’s people to the point of overwhelming action and response.
We are gutless people, and therefore, America will be gutted. The gutting of truth. The gutting of justice. The gutting of dignity. The gutting of prosperity. The gutting of fairness and the gutting of our liberties. God will not be mocked. Therefore, He is allowing America to become a mockery to the world!
Saints of God, stand your ground! Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. Become the light of Christ. Be the salt of the earth. Be bold in your faith and obedience to Christ our King.
Patriots, Defend the Constitution. Stand up against tyranny, the cruel and oppressive rule of the Left. Push back against the Progressives. Support your godly and righteous representatives.
If we do not stand up for our faith and freedoms, we will surely fall as a nation, and great will its fall be!
Stop listening to the false prophets of the political left. Reject the false religion of wokeism.
“Each time we don’t say what we wanna say, we’re dying.” – Yoko Ono
Don’t let silence kill your life, joy, or your future. Speak from your heart and live.
You may agree that the three most powerful words are “I Love You.”
Can these three little words indeed be so powerful and significant?
After all, for many, these words fall from our mouths so casually and regularly that we miss their true meaning and worth. But what happens if, for some of us, we’ve never heard those words from our moms or dads or the most important people in our lives?
Well, that was my story…
I lived through nearly four decades of silence from my father. I hated my father because of his silence and uninvolvement in my life as a boy. His career and extreme work ethic took him from me when I needed him.
When I heard that my dad was dying from esophageal cancer, I initially refused to visit him. My anger held me back for a little while until my siblings ganged up on me.
Four days before my father passed, I had the opportunity to stay overnight with him at the VA Hospital in Martinez, CA. (My father was wounded in action by a missile attack during the Korean War on September 19, 1951). He had served in the Army as a private, 1st class medic.
After the lights went out in my dad’s hospital room, courage rose within my heart, and I spoke the three most important words that I could say to the most important man in my life:
Dad?
“Yes, son.”
Dad, …I love you!
It felt like an eternity of silence orbited the darkened hospital room…
…Then, from my dad’s weakened condition, I heard what my heart and soul had so longed to hear during the 39 silent years I had lived:
“I love you too, son.”
Suddenly, unspeakable joy filled my heart, and tears rolled down my face. I called out to my dad several more times that night, saying:
Dad?
“Yes, son.”
Dad, …I love you!
“I love you too, son.”
I heard my father say he loved me, which washed all the years of hurt, anger, and loneliness from my body, soul, and mind. My father’s words were a healing balm that would change my life from that day forward.
My father’s words also helped me to accept my Heavenly Father’s love for me.
“I am my beloved, and he is mine; his banner over me is love!” Songs of Songs
“See, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreaded day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest when I come, I strike the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6
Jesus came to me late on October 8, 1998, at night in that VA Hospital room in Martinez, California. He bound up my wounds and healed my broken heart. He freed this captive and released me from a prison of loneliness, despair, and anger. He lifted the curse from my life, and by becoming my father’s beloved son, I became God’s also!
“Come away with me, my love, my lovely one, come. For you, winter is over and gone. The snow has melted, and the flowers are in bloom; the cooing of the turtle doves can be heard throughout the land. Come away with me, my love, my lovely one, come. Your face is beautiful; your voice is sweet. Come away with me, my love, my lovely one, come.” Songs of Songs
My Dad became my hero and went away to be with the Lord of Life on October 12, 1998. I stood at his right side, holding his hand until he breathed his last breath. He looked up to the ceiling, smiled, and then was gone. We all wept so loudly as a family that our cries could be heard throughout the hospital wing.
A few moments later, I stretched my hand over my father’s face, and I closed my father’s eyes.
Yes, words do matter. Be brave, be courageous, and allow your heart to speak its words before it is too late. The “I love you, dad,” unlocked my father’s heart, which echoed those desperately needed words from him into my hungry and hurting heart and soul.
There is unspeakable power in the three simple words; “I love you” or “please forgive me.”” While these words are simple, it takes great courage to say them. Please, don’t be stubborn and don’t be afraid, dare to speak and listen for the reply; “I love you too.”
Scripture says, “If you hear God’s voice today, don’t be stubborn. Don’t be stubborn like those who rebelled in the wilderness.” – Hebrews 3:15
Don’t let silence kill your life, joy, or your future. Speak from your heart and live!
Call To Courage 