A Conversation with Father

“Good morning, Child.”

I cringed when I heard the greeting. Not because of the label of “child”, but because of who was speaking. It was Father.

“Hello?” He repeated when I didn’t respond.

I hung my head. Why was He even talking to me? He knew what I’d done.

“I did something stupid,” I confessed.

I could feel Him smiling on me. “I know.”

“Really stupid,” I reiterated. “Everything is going to change now because of it. How people look at me, what they say about me…”

“Yes,” He agreed. “That’s called consequences.”

“I didn’t mean to do it.”

“I know. But you did, so now you have to live with the results.”

I sighed. “I wish I could go back and change it.”

He shook His head. “It doesn’t work like that though. You can only move on. How you react determines what happens next.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have a choice, little one,” He explained. “This is an opportunity for you to learn and grow. Do you admit you messed up, accept the consequences and learn from it, or do you blame others and the circumstances, dwell on how unfair the results are, and wallow in self-pity?”

I swallowed hard. “It was me. I did it, and I’m sorry.”

“That’s a good start,” He smiled. “Now, you move on.” He held out His hand.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Forward.”

“Will it be ok there?” I wondered.

“My child, have I ever let you down?”

No, I had to admit. No matter how stupid I was, how wrong, how messed up, Father had always been there and helped me through. And every time, things had worked out by trusting Him. I took His hand.

“Come along,” He instructed.

I turned one last time to look back and was admonished.

“Your future isn’t back there,” He reminded me. “There’s nothing there for you now.”

Yes. He was right. The future is forward. I turned to face it.

“Shall we?” He asked.

“You’ll stay with me, won’t you?”

He chuckled softly. “Child, I have been with you all this time. All you had to do was look for Me.”

Yes, He was right. I had forgotten.

“Stay with Me and keep your eyes on Me.” He instructed. “I’m never going to fail you.”

“Yes, I will. I’ll remember. This time.”

He chuckled again. He knew I would have times I would forget like I always do. I would fail again, be stupid again, mess up again. And again, He would be there to help pick up the pieces. Not because I was worthy of it, but because He loved and cared about me.

Would I ever learn?

I gripped His hand tighter.

“I’m going to get through this.” I reminded myself. “I will learn from this and come out stronger. Father is with me. We will come through it together.”

“Ready?” He asked.

I nodded and took a deep breath.

Together, we took a step forward.

“Where will this end?” I wondered.

I was frightened and unsure.

“But Father knows the way.” I told myself. “Hold on to Him. He’s going to get you through this.”