In the first Part of this two part Reflection I want to introduce you to two people – the fictitious Charlie Parker who features in a number of my stories. He was disowned by his father and mother . Then there is the true story of the young woman I knew for whom rejection by her parents was all too real. But this reflection is also a reminder of all that Christ accomplished in His stay on this earth that makes it possible to say that “God is my Father and He loves me!”
God is my Father and He loves me! – Part 1
Recently I was writing about a character in one of my short stories. He is called Charlie Parker and he features in a number of my stories. I love writing about him, sometimes he seems almost real! As I was writing about him, I paused to reflect on Charlie and the journey he was on, that was first in my head and then poured out onto the written page!
His story was one of being born long after his older brother Sam – Charlie was just an unplanned, unwanted accident. Even before he was born he was told he was unwanted. Perhaps because of this he proved to be a “difficult” child – which only worsened his poor relationship with his parents . Yes, he was unloved and unvalued and he knew it!
As a result he also had trouble at school – he wasn’t very well behaved and he struggled academically. When he was 13, he was sent to be a boarder at a nearby special-needs school. Although it was only about half an hour drive from his parents’ house, they rarely visited him. I felt for this young man as I wrote about him. (I often get emotional about my made up characters!)
I think he reminded me of a young woman I met when I was working in a local independent school. I was a school librarian and at lunchtime, in the Library, I ran a weekly group called “Sixth Sense”. It was for pupils in the sixth form who were interested in Christianity and I arranged visiting Christian speakers to tell their stories and how they became followers of Jesus Christ.
One lunchtime I was chatting with one of the Lower Sixth girls. I asked her which universities she was applying for. There were tears in her eyes as she shared with me that she was looking at all the universities that were as far away as possible from her home in Sussex. When I asked her why, she tearfully told me that neither of her parents were interested in having her back home again and so she was looking for courses as far away as possible, so as not to have to see them and receive more rejection to her face.
She, just like Charlie, felt unloved and of no value. My Charlie story ends well – but I don’t know what happened to this young lady. Many years later, I still think about her and her sad story.
The reason Charlie’s story ended well was because some people reached out to him and just loved him as he was. When he was at his lowest ebb, in hospital from overdosing on legal highs, they told him about Jesus and all He had done for him on the Cross. Then they told him how much his heavenly Father loves him and values him, and they told him about the good purposes God yet had for his life. And when he was discharged from hospital they took him in, like Good Samaritans, and cared for him. As a result Charlie was able to say “God is my Father and He loves me!” – and mean it!
This of course is only a story, but it contains truths that are relevant to anyone suffering as Charlie did and as emotionally drained and desperate as the young lady I spoke to that day in the school library.
To be continued …..
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In Part 2 I would like to share some scriptural truths with you that demonstrate how much our Heavenly Father loves and values us. Truths than can set believing Christians free. Free to be all God purposed them to be and to live the abundant life that Jesus came to save us into.
All references are from the NKJV unless specified otherwise.
John Partis
bearing-kingdom-fruit.com
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