Discovery

Yesterday morning, when I opened my photos app on my MacBook, a photo that I hadn’t seen since I’d first taken it in 2018 appeared. It was of a contract signed by my father on January 29, 1949 to purchase a little white house on Rope Mill Road in Woodstock, Georgia. I was seven months old at the time. 

A few hours later, I discovered something else totally unexpected. Ten years ago, when dementia was claiming my father’s incredible mind, I wrote devotions to get through that difficult time. In 2020, I compiled some of them into a book. Yesterday, I discovered one devotional that I don’t even remember writing. I looked through my book to be sure I hadn’t included it. I couldn’t find it. On the cover of my book, “Walking to Daddy,” is a photo of me toddling toward my father; he's reaching out to me with open arms. This photo was taken behind that little white house on Rope Mill Road.

So today, I feel led to share this devotional. Perhaps you’re experiencing something similar or going through a hardship that’s overwhelming. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean into your own understanding. Lean into His. He's faithful.

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“So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure” (Psalm 32:11, NLT)!

I celebrate Jesus! I rejoice in His faithfulness no matter my storm—no matter my hurting heart. He tells me that I am to be glad. This means that I am joyfully willing, prepared, and eager to follow His leading. In my obedience, I have His blessed assurance He is guiding me. He will not forsake me.

Each day is hard, and the days stretch into the future with a sadness of loss that comes from seeing my father gradually lose himself. But right now, God’s purpose for me is to walk this road—to love Him as He first loved me—to gain understanding from His perspective—to glean His wisdom in the midst of pain, and to take great joy in the smallest blessings. 

I draw closer to my father in the moments that are quickly waning. I draw closer to the Lord because that is the only way I can walk this path. There is a tenderness of heart that only He can mold in me. There is a joy that He alone is able to perfect. If I faithfully walk this path, I receive His promise of abundance. My life is full of Him. In my weakness, I know His overwhelming strength. 

There is no greater peace than knowing He has given Himself to my need—that He has taken this burden and imparted His power. He is alive in me in depths that I would have never known if I had refused. Faithful is He to do in me what He has asked of me. This journey purifies my heart. I rejoice in Him! His purpose is my greatest promise!  

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Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

James 4:8