Everlasting Father

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."James 1:17

Growing up my family moved an average of every two years until I was eleven years old. That works out to be five houses from birth to seventh grade. It didn't matter much to me as a small child I suppose, because my family remained the same. But, by the time I was in middle school, friendships became important. That last move after sixth grade was the hardest. Not only did the familiar constant of my neighborhood friends change but so did the face of my family.

For the next seven years shadows of the people I loved the most shifted in and out of my life as divorce moved in. My constant of family dissolved.

Staying put in that apartment was the greatest gift my mother gave me in the midst of that lonely, soul-shaking time. Staying gave me a core of support; a group of friends at school and at church that pointed me toward normal. That time is when God became my constant. He gave me the foundation and passion for family that my husband and I live by today.

It is a miracle for any child of divorce to accept God as an Everlasting Father. To that child, nothing is everlasting, especially a parent (father or mother). But, God promises He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31: 6, 8, Joshua 1:5); that He is everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 41:13); the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

The birth of Jesus, God's son, ushered in the beginning of our inheritance. Jesus' life, death and resurrection allows us to be called "children of God." We are given the gift of an Everlasting Father whose shadow never shifts; whose presence never leaves us; who will never forsake us.

As you ponder the birth of Jesus today, won't you consider making Him your constant?

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6