Hi to all my Forum Friends,
In a discussion on the TimesDaily Religion Forum, my atheist Friend, Deep, declared about the Christian faith and life, "It's a story perpetuated by those scared of death. Death is simply the end. Live! Live for today!"
I told him, "My Friend, you have it all wrong. Christian believers are NOT afraid of death. Death holds no fear whatsoever for the believer -- for we KNOW that the moment we leave this worn out old mortal body -- the next moment we WILL be in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Dory, our daughter, Lana, and I attended three Christian funerals in December. One was a 92 year old father; another was a 57 year old mother and wife, and the last was a 47 year old mother and wife. At none of them did we experience wailing and mourning. Each was a celebration of the life of that person and how each blessed our lives.
Was there mourning? Yes, the husbands, children, close family, and close friends mourned our loss of them in our lives, i.e., we mourned for our own loss. But. at the same time, we celebrated their promotions to heaven where there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more loss."
Then, Chick, my agnostic Friend, wrote, "Bill, you said, 'Dory, our daughter, Lana, and I attended three Christian funerals in December.' I thought Dory had those kids when you 'married' her. That makes her your step-daughter, Bill, not your daughter. You also mentioned a Mexican divorce in which you said it wasn't worth the paper it was written on?
I told her:
"Chick, children are made in the heart -- not the crotch. It is called love. Yes, my son and daughter have a different birth father who has been dead for many years. But, they have a "love father" who has loved them very much -- for the last 34 years -- and counting. So, yes, they are my son and daughter.
It is true, during those many wild years between my first wife, who was Hispanic, and my wife today, who is Filipino -- I wandered through a number of romantic escapades and mistakes. In one of those, to facilitate such an escapade, I did visit Mexico and obtain a worthless piece of paper.
Heck, I did a lot of things in those in-between years which I would just as soon forget. However, that is the beauty of the Lord and Savior I serve -- He forgives. When I became a Christian believer at the age of fifty, Jesus Christ gave me His cloak of righteousness to wear -- so that God does not see the scars of Bill Gray's erroneous years. Yes, that is the God I serve; that is the Lord and Savior I serve. Praise God He lifted me out of my worldly cesspool and made me clean.
Of course, today, I still get a wee bit dirty. But, praise God I have his promise found in 1 John 1:9:
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
Chick, you cannot imagine the peace of mind He gives me. I sincerely wish you would seek that same peace with God, through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
Then, my Christian Friend, O No, added, "Chick, when I had step-kids, (well, I still do, but they are grown up now), I called them my kids. I would introduce them to people as my son and my daughter. And we used to get such a kick out of people who said they could tell, because my daughter looked just like me. We would never even bother to tell them I was 'only' their step mom. I think the kids felt a lot better about being called 'my kids' than they would if I called them step kids. I WAS their Mom in their minds. We liked it that way."
In response, I told O No:
I had that happen with my first wife who had three young children when we married. The two older ones (3 and 4 when we married) had more Spanish features like their birth father, while the youngest (18 months when we married) looked more like her mother. In the years we were together, many times people would comment, "The two older girls look just like their dad (me), but, the youngest looks like her mother."
Personally, I think the youngest received the greater compliment -- for her mother was a very beautiful lady. To make this even more unusual, when our youngest daughter had her first child, a daughter -- she was the exact image of her mother and grandmother -- all three exceptionally beautiful.
But, I was happy to hear that the two older girls looked like me -- for I love them all dearly.
Years later, when I was single and living in California (but, still involved with my three daughters), I would often mention my girls. One night, in 1970, my date and I had been dancing and, afterwards, we were going to Denny's for a late night breakfast. As we parked and were walking into the restaurant, I said something about my girls. This very self-centered young lady (my date) told me, "I don't want to hear about your girls." I looked at her, said, "Fine" -- went back to my car and drove away -- leaving her standing on the sidewalk in front of Denny's.
I saw her years later at a computer convention where she was a model in one of the booths. She gave me her phone number and asked me to call. I smiled, walked away, and tore up the piece of paper.
Children are a precious gift from God -- even when we do not deserve His gifts. We should always treat our children as such -- both "birth children" and "heart love children."
And, that is the way I feel today. Children, regardless of their age, are a blessing from God. Grandchildren are the special icing on His divine cake. God has blessed me so much with my children and grandchildren -- blessings I do not deserve; but, since I am His child, He has given me these blessings. My goal in life is to, every day, be more deserving of His love and of His blessings.
If you agree, please feel free to share this with your Friends, Relatives, Associates, and Neighbors -- all your FRANs. Let's all keep sharing about God's love and blessings in our lives -- as we continue to share His Written Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all the world -- until He returns.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
