One night...

"I'll be right back." Said by a mother holding a ball bat and heading toward our dad's house. Not even those words could be comforting for a child holding back her tears for the sake of her young, wide-eyed, brother sitting in the back seat huddled down waiting for the night to end. The only comfort was knowing our dad was not in the house, and rather out drinking at a bar where he might be forgetting about all the pain of divorce.

Sadly, there are situations, such as this, that I can never erase from my memory. Instead, the painful memories have been buried so deep, that even what could have been pleasant childhood memories, I have no recollection. I remember tear after tear gracing my cheeks night after night in my bed alone. Well, I thought I was alone.

It was one night in my bed where my tears caused from internal emotional pain changed to tears caused by internal glory from Jesus Christ. It was one night of eternal change.

It felt as though my heart was being washed from all of its scar tissue. While I still had a strong desire for my dad to be present in my life, I now had a Heavenly Father who could more than make up for the loss I was experiencing with my dad breaking promises and running off with other women.

Of course, if my story stopped there, it would have a happy ending, but there is something much more. Something I feel to rejoice about every day, and that is the amazing opportunity I have to raise my child up in a loving, Christ-following, Bible-reading, un-broken, home. For this privilege, I could never repay the Lord. From the depth of my soul, thank you Lord for the one night of eternal change.