Throughout my life I have heard stories of God’s miraculous saving of people thought long gone, and have known a few of the families or been part of churches where it happened..but I had never experienced it on a personal level until now.

There has been a member of my immediate family who has spent a lifetime of running from the Lord..as fast and as far as he could.  That running included three broken marriages and three children, two of whom are grown and one who is elementary school now.  It also included other things that running does, like alcohol and drugs.  Family events came and went, sometimes with him and/or a wife or girlfriend or children, but most of the time not.  There were many years when most of us didnt even know where he was, or what shape he was in.  But GOD did!  And He never released my mom and others from praying for him.  But the years went on and no results.

AND YET!  God in His infinite patience and love NEVER gave up on my family member!  Long after I had grown up, married and entered ministry with so much activity and so many others to pray for that I forgot about him, God was still pursuing!  And finally this family member stopped….running away….and ran to God!

Now a perfect ending would be all is well, but of course consequences can be heavy.  While he is now a child of God, heaven bound and loving Jesus, real life is still there.  His dad is 81 and suffering with dementia and will never know that his son came home..and yet!  He and his dad will mert again heaven and spend eternity “catching up”!  My family member has also now been diagnosed with cancer..very serious..but we are praying for a merciful healing.  And there’s a whole lifetime of family moments and memories he missed.

AND YET!  God won!  Another member of my family will spend the rest of his life praising God, and bringing others to Him!  And that is hope worth sharing!