Listen Now
George Ella Lyon’s poem, “Where I’m From,” describes her background through family, events, and places from her childhood. The poem is lovely, and it touches my heart each time I read it.
Unlike this poet’s memories, my childhood memories from childhood are that of pain, rejection, isolation, and fear. When I was very young, my father often came home drunk and fought physically and verbally with my mother. I hid in my closet from fear. They divorced when I was five, and a year later he drowned in the dark water of a muddy river because he was drunk while fishing.
My mother remarried, but things didn’t get better as I hoped. No, my stepfather sexually abused me from age nine to age thirteen. Besides that, we moved three times while I was in high school, so I had few friends.
These experiences left me damaged emotionally. To numb my feelings, I developed an alcohol problem of my own. I hid my alcoholism pretty well, but I couldn’t erase my feelings of shame and worthlessness.
A few years later, some coworkers shared the love of Jesus with me and continually prayed for me.
Still, it was a long time before I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and became a child of God. When I did, I began to study the Bible. I learned that God is love, and we can call Him “Abba” which means “Father” or “Daddy God.” Over time, I received and experienced His love — Heavenly Father love. I began to heal from the inside out. Before experiencing His love and healing, the word father represented only pain to me.
The song ”Child of the Father” by Cheri Keaggy says it beautifully:
I am a child of the Father
And I know what that means for me
It means I’m loved and I’m spoken for
It means I’m wealthy in heavenly things
I am a child of the Father
And I know what that means for me
It means I’m redeemed and forgiven
It means I’m holy and blameless and free
Now when I think about “where I’m from,” I smile and thank God for being my Father.
Did you have a lifetime of pain, rejection, poverty, or shame? Did your father disappoint, hurt, or abandon you? God the Father can be trusted; I have experienced that. He loves unconditionally. I’ve experienced His love no matter what I’ve thought or done. He is faithful. I’ve experienced that He is there when I needed Him. He is the Father I always wanted. And He wants to be your Father as well.
