Impactful lessons
Testimonies…are life impacting stories, usually about how someone or some event redirected their journey in life or thought process. Some just slightly, while others can be profound, especially if it is a spiritual encounter. Most likely you have experienced this in your own life. It is so vivid, probably unforgettable. Rafy spent the weekend at a men’s conference in Stephenville last weekend. Here are just two of the testimonies from the time these men spent with him digging into the subject of fatherhood. They were Hispanic—Rafy translated for us Gringos.
“For a long time I thought that my duty as father was just to provide and protect my family. I was wrong and now I have a big challenge. After this course I was able to hug and kiss my children and tell them that I love them and they are the most special thing for me. This will make it more constant and in the time that my God gives me life. I love my wife and children.” Elias G.
“This course opened my understanding of how to relate more to God, my children, my wife, brothers and sisters in Christ and other people. Thank God for the desire he gave me to attend this conference. It helped me a lot, and from now on I want to enjoy my wife and children. I want to be a good example for them and the people who know me.” Martin L.
Answered prayers
Mel Gipson is a Colleague who teaches in the Buster Cole Unit in Bonham each week. During the current series, Mel shared the following. “The Lord answered prayer for one of the men last week. He didn’t have communication with his children because of their mother. We prayed this week and he received a letter from his children with some pictures they had drawn. Praise God.”
This is not uncommon as I have seen the power of prayer for dads many times over during the Fathering 101 curriculum series at Hutchins Sate Jail and elsewhere across Texas. As a reader, you may not appreciate this but these testimonies are huge for these men. Every week I experience the brokenness in these incarcerated dads’ lives, and watch their faces light up (many times accompanied by tears) when what we have taught and they are incorporating in their lives proves fruitful in their relationship with their children. I’ll close this with a recent story shared by a Hutchins dad with three children.
“I just wanted to say how thankful I am for this program. I have been talking to my kids a lot and praying for a breakthrough to no avail. When I started to apply what I have been learning, there was a day I called and my youngest son was acting up bad. He’s six and he’s been having a hard time with all of this. It opened the door for me to open up to him and implement grace instead of getting harsh with him.
I told him I knew the reason he was acting out was because all this is so hard. And I told him I understood and that it’s okay to feel angry because that’s just how his feelings are coming out about this. And that I’m here for you. And Jesus wants to touch your heart and heal your brokenness. He broke down and started crying for the first time since I’ve been gone. And he prayed a prayer with me and started his journey with Jesus.
And I have been working on my other son and daughter also now and we are reading Bible stories together on the phone. And they are asking questions about life. The word of God is convicting their hearts. And I am ever so grateful for the burden God put on y’all’s heart to start all this. It’s much appreciated. May God bless y’all always.”Philip N.
What is your testimony?
How do you add to that? As we firmly believe, God has started a movement of Godly fatherhood, and he’s doing it one dad at a time. These are just four examples. What’s your testimony as a dad? Has the Spirit impacted you in some way? Are you sharing it? You should; it will strongly influence other men. Maybe send a 50 word testimony to me and I’ll post it for you on www.bethedadmovement.com and/or on our Facebook page. You might even be asked to share your story at one of our Fathers Forums. Wouldn’t that be special! Simply, don’t keep it to yourself.
“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and life is in his Son”
(I Jn. 5.11 ESV).
