On a fall day in 1979, my mom got into the car and pulled out of the driveway.
The next day, I found her car at a bridge. Rescuers found her remains in the Minnesota River about a week later. She was a recovering alcoholic at the time. In her suicide note, she said she felt as if she had not been a good mother. My dad re-married for the third time the following year.
Later, my dad divorced my step-mom. He did what he has done every time trouble has erupted in a relationship: got in the car and left town. Somehow, I discovered where he lived and wrote to him several times, but he never wrote back. All I had was a post office box number with no street address.
I find it ironic that both of my parents got into a car and left. I felt abandoned, as if they had left me alone on the street to fend for myself. The good news is that my step-mother re-married my dad. We were re-united, and I stayed in touch with him the last four years of his life.
God assured Joshua, the new leader of Israel, that He would never leave or forsake him.
I am so grateful that I, too, don‘t have to worry about my heavenly Father pulling out of the driveway. He has promised never to leave or forsake me, even though it might not always feel as if He is near. The Lord knew I was hurting, and He allowed my dad to come back into my life. But even if that had never happened, I knew my heavenly Father was there. I just needed to trust Him.
Regardless of who else might leave you, Jesus never will.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Ken Ebright is a former Minnesotan who lives in Belleville, Illinois. He plays a keyboard, sings in a men’s choir, and does street witnessing.