Stuff my dad says...

Had lunch with my dad today.

Pizza.

Always a good choice.

But during my conversation with him, we started to discuss faith, belief, and some of the struggles he has had in his past and where he is now. During the conversation, I really wanted to bring up some thoughts and share with him the love that God has for him, so I agonized over telling him. Not because I am afraid of sharing my faith in Christ, not because someone might have over heard us. But because, well, this is my dad.

I started to say something, then stopped, hashing over my words. He looked at me, and I said.."This is really hard to say."

He looked back at me and said some words that pretty much struck me deep down inside and caused me to really do a self evaluation post haste.

His words that shook me to the core?

"If you are afraid to tell me, it makes me doubt your convictions."

OUCH!

Here I am, a guy who tells teens to live their lives out loud, to share the gospel with their friends, to boldly go into their schools and share the gospel of Jesus Christ... and I'm scared to share my faith with my dad.

Double OUCH!!

Thankfully, I serve a God who knows me, who loves me, and who will willingly discipline me when I am being an idiot. (btw, that happens a lot more then you might ever expect)

Good news is I did tell him. We talked. He listened. We finished lunch. We hugged and went back to our workplaces.

No, my dad didn't say a prayer confessing Christ at lunch.

But God used him mightily to impact me.

No, I didn't answer all my dad's problems.

But God showed up in a big way, at least for me.

No, there were no angels triumphantly calling a lost one home.

But a seed was planted.

And sometimes... that is all we are called to do. Plant seed.

Talk about Stuff my Dad said.. ouch!