The Moment Of Truth:
I remember one evening when I was 16, just fresh and fairly new in my walk of faith, walking up to the altar telling God, that if he would remove all the bitterness and hatred I'd had for my dad, that I would choose to follow Him and give Him my life. Of course like most kids my age, and like you've already read, I didn't do too well at keeping up my end of the bargain, but He did. I remember something in me changing that night. I was never quite certain of what it was. Little did I know, God was preparing my heart for this day, that would come not but 7 years later.
There I was pacing back and forth relentlessly. I rearranged the house a million times over. I cleaned and re-cleaned everything there was. My nerves were shot. I couldn't sit still. I didn't know what to expect, nor what would happen, but this was it. I was going to see him face to face for the first time in 15 years. There was no turning back at this point. Every part of me on the outside was trying its best to remain positive, and strong. Internally, I was having a nervous breakdown. I felt weak, and frankly sick to my stomach. A feeling I very seldom have had before.
10:00pm - "Hey, we're just down the road from you, do you mind if we come over tonight?"
10:05pm -" Uh, sure but Sam is asleep so you have to be super quiet."
I didn't really want him to come over that late, but I knew it needed to happen if there were any chance and hope for me to sleep that night.
10:15pm "Okay, we just got done swimming at the hotel pool and the GPS says we're about 15 minutes away. We'll be there soon! :)
Immediately I got on the phone, and called 2 of my close friends. They knew leading up to this moment what was going on, and agreed that whenever he'd arrive, they would be there to as extra help should we need it, and moral support. There was a plan set in motion to protect me and Sam, should the time arise and we need it. My heart felt like it was going to explode. Parts of my body started to tingle and go numb. I wasn't sure if I was having a heart attack, but I've googled the symptoms before and I might as well have been.
Headlights shined through the living room window. I peaked through the drawn curtains.
It wasn't him.
It was a car driving by. I took a deep breath.
A few moments later, there was a knock on our door!
I jumped up, looking to Pete to answer it.
It was our friends. I exhaled.
Immediately I hugged Steve and Mike. I was thrilled to see them. Steve looked as if he could have been a bouncer at one point of his life. He was a semi-large Italian man with a build that said "don't mess with me", but deep down he was a giant teddy bear. Mike had a much smaller build, and was definitely the peace-keeper type. He was one of those guys, that although small, had stored up strength that you wouldn't think he was capable of having.
10:32pm the clock on the stove read.
I knew it was any minute now that he was going to pull into our driveway. I tried to prepare myself as best I could. I had a tad more peace with everyone there, but I was still a nervous wreck.
Do I hug him? Do I shake his hand? Do I greet him with some kind of cheesy welcome? Do I stay in my room and let Pete deal with him? Do I text him and tell him to just come back in the morning? It was so hard to focus! My thoughts raced! Well what if....
Just then, there was another knock on our door. He was here.