Before we left the weekend I was assigned a talk. The title given me was "Moment of Christ's Presence". I was asked to give a personal witness of Christ in my life during the previous week.
Here is what I said:
"At this point the
outline says I am to give you a personal witness of Christ in my life
during the last week. It started a week ago with the forgiveness part
of the program.
10 years ago my wife
of 36 years suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. 5 years ago I
married a young lady with a 12 yr old daughter and a 7 yr old son
whose husband had cheated on her with her best friend. They had a
baby before either of them was divorced.
Over the past 5
years he has done some really horrific things to us and especially to
the kids. One example is when he convinced Emily, my step-daughter to
file assault charges against me and abuse and neglect charges against
her mother. Thank God for a very understanding Judge whose final
verdict was, “I find the defendant innocent of all charges and Mr.
Cook, I'm very sorry you had to go through this.”
Last weekend during
the forgiveness ceremony I forgave him and his wife. Or rather,
Christ did it because I had been unable to. While that was a major
presence of Christ, it isn't what I want to tell you about.
My relationship with
me step-daughter has been, and is wonderful. My step-son, Andrew is
another story. He resented me from day one and has worked to break me
and Carol up so he could have his mother all to himself. I have not
handled the situation well at all and have been very unforgiving of
him and very critical of his behavior.
When I told my wife
about the burden lifted from me when I forgave her ex and his spouse,
she said, “I sure wish you'd use some of that inspiration and
energy to build a relationship with Andrew.” I had not put him on
the forgiveness list because I didn't think about him hurting me. But
now I see how un-Christ like my actions and feelings have been. So
after Christ relieved me of all the hate and bitterness toward the ex
and his wife, He immediately, through my loving wife gave me a new
challenge.
Encounters with the Lord are not always sweetness and roses. Sometimes He smacks you up side the head and says, "Listen up." Sometimes this happens through other people. Like Carol giving me a major wakeup call concerning Andrew. Of course understanding what to do and doing it can be two very different things. But I am working on it and hope we will develop a strong relationship soon."
After the day's program was over, Keith the Bass player came up to me and said, "I don't know where this came from but I definitely feel that I have been called to prayer for you and Andrew. Would that be OK with you." When I said, "Yes" and sat down, Keith placed his hand on my shoulder and started to pray. Within a few seconds almost the entire room was circled around us. A circle of 40 or 50 men facing challenges of their own that I can't even imagine, praying for us.
There we were - deja vu - all over again.
Our calling is to bring Christ to these men. Yet here they were, praying for Andrew and me.
God is awesome.
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