Two Hearts Are Now One
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...A Valentines Day story - for this is a story of two broken hearts; healed and mended, then melted together as one--in an instant. This is a story of True Love....
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It is fitting that I should |
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wouldn't be a burden on anyone |
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others meet my dad and see the |
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write this story on Valentines |
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when she retired. |
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man who had so wounded me. |
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Day, for this is a story of |
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two broken hearts; healed and |
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But, always, she was obsessed |
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We were sitting around my |
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mended, then melted together |
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with talking about my dad. |
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dining room table, when one |
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as one in an instant. |
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gentleman began telling the |
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I would say that most of our |
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story of a young soldier in |
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This is a story of True Love. |
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conversations about him were |
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Napoleon's army who had gone A. |
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Anyone who comes from a broken |
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judgemental. |
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W. O. L. , been caught and was |
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family understands the pain of |
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now about to face the firing |
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divorce. |
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After all, we read our Bibles; |
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squad. |
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we knew that what he had done |
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I was twenty seven years old |
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was wrong. |
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This young man's mother came |
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when my parents divorced, and |
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to Napoleon and pleaded for |
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while some people think that a |
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She had done nothing that the |
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mercy for her son. |
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person shouldn't be "affected" |
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Bible sanctioned as reason for |
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by such things once they are |
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divorce. |
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Napoleon replied, "He doesn't |
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adults, I can assure you I |
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deserve mercy. " |
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WAS! I was shocked when my |
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By the time of his third |
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To which the mother implored, |
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parents divorced. |
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marriage, we knew he wasn't |
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"But, Sir, if he deserved it, |
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coming back to her. |
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it wouldn't be mercy!" At |
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I had no forewarning in the |
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that, Napoleon allowed the boy |
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natural. |
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Still, his actions and their |
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to live. |
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But, on the day that my dad |
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effect on our lives were |
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told my mom that he was moving |
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frequent topics of our |
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After telling this story, the |
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out, I felt a great anxiety in |
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conversations. |
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gentleman said, "I have no |
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my spirit so great that I told |
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idea why I told that story. |
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my husband, "Something is |
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After many years, I gave up |
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terribly wrong in California. |
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hope for my dad to ever be |
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It just came into my head. " |
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reconciled to his family. |
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As he had been speaking, I |
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I want to phone home. " |
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felt the strangest sensation |
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Considering the fact that I |
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I doubted he was even a |
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of heat come over my head and |
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was three thousand miles away, |
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Christian. |
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into my chest. |
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on a remote island in Northern |
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I felt he was a totally lost, |
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Canada, when I felt this |
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immoral, unstable, unsavory |
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Without wavering, I said, "I |
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anxiety, you can appreciate |
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person. |
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know why you told that story. |
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that I was deeply affected. |
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" |
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That was a very dark time for |
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Pain and confusion became |
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me. |
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I turned toward my dad and |
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constant companions as I tried |
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Gradually, I got used to the |
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gently said, "Dad, when mom |
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to "understand" what had |
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darkness in my own soul it |
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was dying, I felt that God was |
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happened what right did he |
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seemed normal. |
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being very unfair. |
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have to leave my mother? |
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Mother did retire and she |
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So I asked Him what He had to |
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Whose standard was he using to |
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moved from California to |
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say about the situation. |
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exercise his right to leave |
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Canada to be near my family. |
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her? |
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Would you like to hear what |
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She had missed out on much of |
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God had to say about you and |
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What had she done that was so |
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the growing up of my five |
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mom?" |
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terrible that he could not |
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children, and she wanted to |
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live with her? |
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get to know them. |
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The room was very quiet. |
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I could tell that my dad was |
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I had questions and I asked |
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She bought a condominium two |
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afraid to know. |
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them of nearly everyone around |
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blocks from my house and the |
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But, after a few moments he |
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me. |
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kids enjoyed having "Gran" |
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indicated that he would. |
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live so close. |
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I asked God the same |
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I felt the heat increasing as |
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questions, and in so doing, I |
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One year after moving here, |
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I reached deep into my soul |
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realized that my own life was |
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she was diagnosed with Lou |
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for those words, "He said, ‘I |
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in quite a mess. |
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Gehrig's disease. |
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could not heal your mother, |
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because she would not forgive. |
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As I came into a better |
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Lou Gehrig's disease was a |
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alignment with God, I searched |
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death sentence. |
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the Bible for "the answer" to |
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There was no cure. |
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But I see the wounds upon your |
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all my questions about my dad. |
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There was no treatment. |
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father's heart, and I have |
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I spent four months pryaing |
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pity on him. " |
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and asking God to heal my |
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Since he had been a Baptist |
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mother. |
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In the moment I spoke those |
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minister at one time, I felt |
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words, the power of Spirit hit |
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certain that he would know and |
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Finally, the answer came "Help |
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both of us "like lightening. " |
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obey what the Bible said about |
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her die. " |
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such an important issue. |
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I accepted her diagnosis and |
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We stood up, pushed our chairs |
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did all I could to help her. |
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back from the table and fell |
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About two years after the |
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into each others arms, sobbing. |
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divorce, the whole family |
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I wish I could tell you that I |
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gathered in California for one |
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was a "good little Christian" |
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of those BIG attempts to bring |
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who praised and thanked God |
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After quite a while of crying |
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reconciliation I felt certain |
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every day for His righteous |
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and kissing, we sat down again |
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that dad would listen to God's |
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judgements but, the truth is |
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even the two gentlemen present |
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Word. |
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that I questioned God. |
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were crying and I realized |
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that I could not remember even |
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I reached for my Bible and |
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I really felt that it was |
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one of those offenses on my |
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said, "Dad, look at what God |
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unfair of Him to let my dad go |
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"list. " |
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has to say about what you are |
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free, when he was the one who |
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doing. " |
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had done this great wrong to |
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The whole list was erased from |
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his family, and to allow my |
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my memory and five years |
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Before I could find the |
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mother to die this cruel death. |
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later, it is still gone! (10 |
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carefully selected passage of |
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years later too. ) |
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scripture that would |
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straighten this mess out, he |
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Finally, I asked God, "How do |
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From that day on, my dad and I |
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stood up and loudly cursed me, |
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You see this situation?" |
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have had a relationship that |
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the Bible and the whole family. |
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is far beyond mere |
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The answer He spoke to my |
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"reconciliation" or "recovery. |
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heart would one day transform |
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" |
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Then he walked out. |
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all our lives. |
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Needless to say we were all in |
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We never had a relationship |
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shock. |
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About a year after my mother |
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like this before ever! This is |
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The shock of that cursing |
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died, I felt something |
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a totally new relationship! We |
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lasted a long time eighteen |
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stirring inside of me a desire |
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talk on the phone every |
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years for myself, and twenty |
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to see my dad. |
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weekend, we plan visits around |
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years for my brother and |
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special holidays, we go to |
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sister. |
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In the long eighteen years of |
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conferences together. |
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separation, I had only invited |
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Eighteen years is a long time. |
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him once to visit my home and |
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Where before my dad had been |
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during that visit I had tried |
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closed to the "things of the |
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Think about it. |
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again and unsuccessfully, |
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Spirit," due to the wounding |
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It generally takes eighteen |
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again to confront him with the |
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caused by my own |
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years to graduate from high |
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Bible. |
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judgementalism and legalism, |
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school. |
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now he is hungry for more of |
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I had no reason to expect that |
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the Spirit. |
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A whole "lifetime" of events |
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another visit would end |
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takes place in eighteen years. |
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differently, but I honored |
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Right away my dad began having |
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that desire anyway and invited |
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powerful dreams which he KNEW |
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him for a long weekend. |
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were from God. |
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During those years, contact |
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with my dad was minimal. |
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My dad came armed with his own |
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He shares these dreams with me |
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arsenal of justifications. |
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and we discuss their possible |
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A card from him on my |
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meanings. |
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birthday, Christmas cards, the |
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He knew what to expect from me. |
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odd phone call which always |
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Two years after this momentous |
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stirred up the pain. |
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I hadn't planned anything |
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day, my dad was reconciled to |
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specific to confront him on I |
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my brother and sister. |
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Someone would hear about |
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didn't need to, I had a whole |
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something that he was doing |
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list of offenses that I could |
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My family traveled to |
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and he would again become the |
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whip out at any given moment. |
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California where we had a true |
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topic of our conversation for |
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"family reunion. " |
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weeks. |
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So, the weekend progressed |
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awkwardly, but quietly. |
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It had been twenty years since |
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My mother never stopped |
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the divorce. |
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talking about him. |
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I had no idea that Spirit was |
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Whenever my dad and I are |
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She never let him go. |
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about to move in on us in a |
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together, we look for an |
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My mom maintained her |
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powerful way. |
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opportunity to share our story. |
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relationship with God |
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throughout this long painful |
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I simply invited two gentlemen |
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separation. |
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friends over for lunch. |
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It is a story that brings hope |
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to hopelessly broken |
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She read her Bible, went to |
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They lead a prayer group I |
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relationships. |
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church, cared about us kids |
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attended and I suppose I hoped |
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and loved her grandkids. |
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they would "say something" |
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It is a True Love story. |
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important to my dad. |
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She worked as a secretary and |
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saved her money so she |
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If not, it was a way to let |
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years
felt
story
mother
bible
family
eighteen
whole
came
spirit
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