Plenty Enough

My father was as honest as the day is long. He had integrity, he was a hard, hard worker and above all he loved his 'girls'. My mother ALWAYS 'robbed Peter to pay Paul' but I can't ever remember a time when we went without the necessities of life.

My two older sisters and I had only 16 months between each of us so when I came along, Daddy, who by then was nearly 42 years old, named me 'Plenty Enough'. From the onset I declared myself to be the 'unwanted' child - the one destined for hand-me-downs and love that I had to fight for.

I believe that Daddy saw my eldest sister as an introvert and because of that she found a special place in his heart as he set out to protect her from the world. My other sister was, and still is, very smart so I'm sure that Daddy knew that she would do well as she ventured through life (and thank You, Lord, she has).

I was the mouthy one. As he attempted to quiet me, Daddy use to say, "She's louder than 10 boys". In addition to this charming attribute I was also known for my bullheadedness, and if you look in the dictionary under the word stubborn, you'll see my picture! For years Daddy called me "Little Martha", a 'not so fond' reference to an Aunt who was never able to charm him. He loved to 'get my goat' - 'rile my feathers' - 'make my fur fly' . . . call it what you will, I didn't take to kindly to it so I was determined that he wasn't going to get the 'best' of me - an unfortunate side effect of the 'gift' of bullheadedness.

Not long after Daddy died my marriage of 10 years ended. I'm glad that he was spared the pain that I know he would have felt right along with me. After what I've already mentioned you might wonder why I cared at all whether or not his heart would have hurt along with mine but you see, despite the way in which I chose to depict life, it really wasn't that way at all. And it was only by the Grace of God that I was given insight and discernment to realize that my thinking was wrong. It was only by that precious Grace that I have been able to forgive him for his humanness and in doing so our relationship has been reconciled-even unto death. It is through that very forgiveness that the Lord has not only brought me freedom from the lies that I believed for 50 years . . . but He gave me back the love of my Daddy.

But the best part was yet to come . . . for you see when I was able to once again love my Daddy, I was free also to love my Father. My Abba. Recently as I was crying out to the Lord - worshiping Him for all that He is to me, I heard myself say to Him . . . You are enough - You are plenty enough. And with that the full circle of my life was complete.

How about you? Do you need help to forgive someone? I promise you that if He can move the mountain that I built up over the years, He can help you do the same. It is written in Matthew 19:26 "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" so why not go and ask Him to help you pour out the forgiveness that you so desperately need to give. Allow Him to restore love in your heart and bring you to a place where you realize that He is 'Plenty Enough'.
THANK YOU JESUS!!!
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