In Part 1 of this story we saw how Evie first meets up with her new Heavenly Father before once again fleetingly spending time with a strangely different physical but normally absent dad. Now, in Part 2, Evie and Ben start to discover more about Fathers. And relationships start to deepen – both spiritually and physically!
Fathers!
Part 2
I slipped through the gate to the Philpott’s house just as it started closing again and walked the 100 metres or so up towards the house. I was relieved to see Becca and Charlie’s car parked outside on the drive. As I arrived the two of them came out of the house with Ben. He looked tearful but Charlie had an arm round him and I saw a hint of a smile cross Ben’s face as Charlie said something to him. He looked up and saw me and the smile returned. Oh!
Becca detached herself and came to meet me. “Hi Evie! Ben said you were coming! Did you see the ambulance? Mr Philpott has been taken off to hospital. Ben found him collapsed on the floor of his office – just after he had called Charlie to say he was worried about his Dad’s behaviour. So he called an ambulance and then texted Charlie again – and we came straight over. Now we are following the ambulance to the hospital – do you want to come?”
“Yes please! Becca, God’s been speaking directly to me again! He showed me another part of that vision I had – and told me to tell Mr Philpott about it. So I need to do that somehow – it must be important!”
Becca nodded and squeezed my arm:” My word, your heavenly Father is not waiting long before involving you in his purposes!” By now we had reached the car.
“Here jump in the back with Ben and we’ll head for the hospital!”
I opened the passenger door and slid in to find myself next to Ben. I put my seat belt on. Our hands touched as I settled myself in but he didn’t move his away. Nor did I.
I looked across at Ben and decided the best thing was to keep him talking.
“That’s some house you live in Ben Philpott, even for a very conscientious Maths teacher!”
He smiled ruefully. “Well apparently we weren’t always well off. My Dad told me that my Mum died during my birth. It was due to a mistake made by the hospital and we received a huge amount of compensation – which my Dad decided would be used to give me the best upbringing possible without my Mum. So that money and an inheritance from my Mum’s family are the reason for the house and my “posh”school – as I remember you calling it at Youth Group yesterday!
“Wow, that’s so different to my experience – almost a mirror image in fact. My Dad was a successful accountant – too successful really. He boasted about his clever ways of using money until he got found out by the Inland Revenue; since then he has been away from home and from me ever since – mostly in prison but returning for a flying visit once in a blue moon – just like him turning up at the Youth Group yesterday. Did you see him standing there at the back?”
Ben nodded. “Yes I did – I wondered who it was. Just as well it wasn’t my Dad – there were sparks flying when I told him what I had done.”
Ben looked concerned. “I think my news was the last straw for him and maybe why he has collapsed and been rushed to hospital. I really hope he is going to be OK, he and I are all we have, there is no one else in our family.” He looked so sad and upset.
I said, “Well you have God himself in your life now and He’s already on your case and on your Dad’s too. And He’s on my case and it seems on my Dad’s case too. He seems a very busy God!”
Becca, sitting in front of us, had obviously heard all we said. She turned round, looked at us and said: “Isn’t it interesting how your two lives have crossed – it’s as if God has a particular plan for you two together. I might be wrong – but I don’t think I am!”
Charlie laughed. What could Becca possibly mean?
Strangely embarrassed, I looked away from Becca. She was smiling at me too knowingly. Out of the window I saw we were just entering the hospital car park. “Oh look, we are here “ I said, changing the subject rapidly.
Charlie turned the car towards the A&E Entrance: “I’ll drop you three off, find somewhere to park and then come and find you.”
There were a couple of ambulances queuing outside the entrance, but Charlie squeezed past and we all leapt out so he could go off to park. Becca took charge, steering Ben through the doors, leaving me to follow behind. She marched him up to the welcome desk and told them who we were and who we had come to see. “I can only allow two of you in to accompany Mr Philpott” we were told. Becca looked at us and said: “You two go ahead, I’ll wait here with Charlie. Just let us know how things are when you can”.
“Cubical 7” the nurse person said, and indicated that we should head down the corridor. We passed cubicals 1-6 and arrived outside 7 just as a doctor emerged from behind the curtain. He looked at us enquiringly. Ben spoke:”Hi! I’m Ben, Mr Philpott’s son and this is my friend Evie. How is Dad?”
“Well. Our initial thought is that your father has had a heart attack, but we won’t know for certain until we have done some more tests. Why don’t you go and grab a coffee – it’ll be the best part of an hour before we have anymore information. If you go back to reception and leave us your mobile number we can contact you as soon as we have made some further progress.” And he hurried off down the corridor. After a few steps he turned back to us. “I’ll let him know you are here, but just be patient. He’s in the right place!” Then he hurried on again.
We headed back to the reception desk and Ben gave the receptionist his mobile number. As we turned away Charlie and Becca appeared though the entrance doors. “Any news?” Charlie asked. Ben told them what the doctor had said. Becca looked at Charlie: ”Charlie, I think the best thing to do is for you to leave us here and head home. We are only a few minutes away and you can soon come back when we need you.”
She turned to Ben:”Are you OK with that?” Ben nodded then looked at me. “Are you happy to stay with me too Evie?” he asked.
I nodded. ”I’m here for you as long as you need me Ben. I just need to text Mum to let her know where I am.”
Becca chimed in:” OK we can call Charlie as soon as we need him. Remember we are always here for you too, Ben.” Charlie nodded, gave Ben a hug and then me too, before turning round and disappearing through the doors and out of sight.
Ben looked a bit lost, and I found myself grabbing his hands:”It’s going to be OK Ben – God has given me this picture for your Dad so I know I will be able to give it to him.”
Ben smiled wanly. ”Thanks Evie. Having you here is so comforting – thanks for your help and support.” And I realised we were still holding hands – it seemed neither of us were in a hurry to let go! Becca had a knowing look on her face as she excused herself to find a loo. “Let’s meet up in the cafe , the sign says its off down that long corridor. See you in a bit!” And she disappeared in the opposite direction.
I turned to Ben:“OK! Let’s go and find the cafe and something to sustain us while we wait.” And we walked hand in hand in the direction of the signs to the cafe.
As we neared the cafe I said to Ben. “Hey! I haven’t got any money with me. Do you have any?
“I wouldn’t allow you to pay anyway!”, he replied. “And in any case I have a card – Dad and I have a joint account and he trusts me with a debit card even though it’s his money.”
I was impressed. My Dad would never trust me like that and he didn’t have any money anyway!
As we joined the short queue Ben asked me what I would like to drink, and did I want a piece of cake too? I told him I fancied a hot chocolate but could manage without any cake now. We reached the front of the queue and Ben ordered two hot chocolate’s with extra cream and mini marshmallows – no expense spared it seemed!
We grabbed a table and sat down. It was only a moment before Becca arrived. “Hi you two! How are you doing? What a morning it’s been!”
Ben nodded. “ We were just saying how our experiences of Fathers have been so different, almost one extreme to the other!”
I nodded. “How on earth do our experiencies relate to the heavenly Father we have just regained?”
Becca looked first at me and then at Ben. “Yes! That’s a good question! I don’t think those two vastly different experiences of earthly fathers help at all really to understand this whole concept of God as a your perfect heavenly Father! On the other hand there’s no time like the present so while we are waiting to hear how your Dad is Ben, let’s talk about your heavenly Father.”
Ben and I looked at each other and nodded. To me this seemed to be an important bit about being a Christian.
“So let’s start back at the beginning, that moment each of you gave your life to Jesus.
Because that’s the moment your new relationship with God as your Father began. When you asked Jesus into your life you each received the gift of eternal life (that’s in 1 John 5:11-12). And by making Jesus your Lord, you allowed Him to come and live His life in and through you. You now belong to Him and His Spirit lives inside you. It says that in one of Paul’s letters to the Christians in Corinth.
This eternal life is the starting point of a relationship with a loving and personal God. Your heavenly Father is not distant like your Dad seems to have been Evie. In fact He just longs for an intimate Father-child relationship with you – and as you get to know the Bible better you will get to know Him better too.
Becca paused just for a moment, but then continued: “For a long time I have to admit I found that very difficult to understand. It was difficult because I had to learn to trust and develop a relationship with a person I couldn’t see. And I had suddenly lost my Mum and Dad and felt neglected and unloved. It’s particularly hard for those who haven’t got a good relationship with their natural father. But God has also given us His Holy Spirit.”
At that point Ben interrupted Becca. “Hang on who’s this Holy Spirit person. I thought there was only one God!”
Becca nodded. “The Bible tells us that He, the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. He is our counsellor, our teacher, our guide, our helper and our comforter. So God is one but made up of three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that leads us and teaches us everything we need to know.
But we also need to understand the relationship between God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. God is the Father of Jesus in a unique and special way. The Father and the Son were together in the Godhead before the creation of the world. That’s what it says right at the beginning of John’s Gospel.
When Jesus was born as a human being He had a human mother called Mary but He was fathered by God Himself (it tells us this in Luke’s Gospel). So Jesus is God’s Son. Then it says in John 1:14 that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Later in his gospel John also says that after the resurrection Jesus returned to His Father’s side in heaven.
And Luke in his Gospel explains how the angel Gabriel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Highest would overshadow her and that the baby to be born was to be called the Son of God.”
I think I was beginning to see this relationship more clearly now. So I said:”So God is in fact the Father of every member of the human race?”
Becca nodded. “Yes, that’s right Evie! But this wonderful relationship between God and mankind has been broken and all because of sin. Every person born after Adam and Eve has been born into sin and rebellion. All have been separated from God and automatically have the devil as their father from birth. That’s what it tells us in John’s Gospel, chapter 8.”
I chipped in again: “I remember now what you told us during the Alpha Course. Sending Jesus was God’s way of to restoring that special Father/child relationship between Him and us. You told us that it was through Jesus’ death and resurrection that our sin has been dealt with.”
Becca replied: “Yes, His death and resurrection cleared the way for that intimate relationship to be restored. The moment you and Ben became Christians, you were reconciled with God our Father. You are now adopted into God’s family and you Evie have gained the right to be treated as His daughter and you, Ben, to be treated as His son.
Paul says in his letter to the Galatians that we are all sons (and daughters) of God through your faith in Jesus Christ. So in a spiritual sense we become brothers and sisters of Jesus. That’s what it says in the Book of Hebrews. And in John’s Gospel it says “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God .”
Ben was impressed. He said: “Gosh, Becca – that’s some story – and you remember all those Bible verses too!
Becca laughed. “Well, I’ve taught this subject so many times now – and I set myself to learn all these key verses too. That’s something you two ought to start doing – maybe you can get together and test each other?” I must have snorted at that – they both looked at me, surprised.
“Well, that sounds a bit too much like school revision to me!” I complained.
Becca grimaced, but then placated me with: “Well there are some great iPhone apps you can use too! I’ll WhatsApp you some links! Anyway does it all make sense, is there anything you want to say or ask?”
Ben volunteered. “It’s true Evie’s dad has been away a lot – but mine goes to the other extreme and tries to micromanage me – and I rebel against it!”
Becca nodded. “Yes , that’s the other extreme. But you will find God is not a micro-managing Father – He is interested in everything that goes on in our lives, but He waits for us to come into His presence and reaches into our lives only if and when we want him to – when we have given him permission.
But in Jesus we can see a true picture of what our Heavenly Father is like. His character is an accurate representation of God the Father. He is the clearest picture of God anyone has ever seen. Paul, in one of his letters to the Christians living in Corinth writes that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and in another of his letters he says that ”all the fullness of God dwells in Him.”
The Bible also tells us that “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.” Jesus Himself said that those who see Him see the Father (John 14:8-9) because He and the Father are One (John 10:30) – that is, One in substance, in character, in purpose and in actions.
So the fact is that when we see the things Jesus does – we see the Father and when we hear the words Jesus speaks – we hear the Father.
I nodded thoughtfully. “So what you are saying is that Jesus is the only one who can give us a clear, accurate understanding of what our Heavenly Father is like. And the Bible tells it like it is!”
Becca smiled. “You’ve got it! So as we read about Him, especially in the four Gospels, we start to understand God’s character. And as we read about Jesus’ miracles of healing and deliverance and the way he stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee, and as we read about His resurrection from the dead. – in all these things what we see is a God of awesome power. But we also see a God who gives time to individuals and treats each one according to their needs. We discover a God who shows compassion and forgiveness, justice and restoration to sinners and we see a God who understands what it is to be human. But most of all we see God’s love, His love for every person He has created.”
Ben chipped in: “Then I’ve got some reading to do, to understand all that God is, so different from my father – and Evie’s too!”
Becca nodded. “Yes, it’s unfortunate that the instinctive understanding of the Father/child relationship we have with God is warped by the fractured relationship we have had with our earthly fathers. And as both of you can testify no human father is perfect. And so we grow up with an imperfect understanding of what a father could and should be. And then we transfer our wrong or incomplete concept of fatherhood onto our understanding of what our Heavenly Father is like. And what’s worse is that the more flawed our relationship with our earthly father, the more distorted is our understanding of God as our Father.”
Ben and I looked at each other. Ben reached out across the table to squeeze my hand. He said:” Can we do this together Evie? We can share all our misconceptions together and then deal with them as we discover what the Bible tells us about our new heavenly Father!” I nodded and squeezed his hand back. “Let’s do it!” I said, while at the same time trying not to appear too excited.
I glanced across at Ben. He was looking thoughtful. I suspected he must, like me, be realising how different our “new” heavenly father was from either of our earthly dads – They were both very different to each other, and, to be truthful, were both pale imitations of our newly discovered heavenly Father who created us and still wants a loving relationship with us. Yes, our relationship with our heavenly Father is a work in progress – and sorting our relationships with our earthly fathers a major project that lies before us both!
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All references are from the NKJV unless specified otherwise.
John Partis
bearing-kingdom-fruit.com
Text copyright © John Partis 2026
John Partis asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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