God Will Take it From Here

Tonight I saw some extraordinary things at the home where my dad lives.

For nearly all of his life, my dad hated Christianity and wanted nothing to do with God, but after he moved to the ALF, he forgot about his atheism and became a Christian. It was very startling to me. Now when I visit him every day, I play Christian music while we talk. I also play a recording of Wayne Cochran reciting helpful scriptures. My dad has reacted positively to all this.

When I decided to play audio for him, I thought I needed an MP3 player. When I looked at the current technology, I decided to get a bluetooth speaker instead. I checked various alternatives, and I chose a product called a Wonderboom. It was available locally, it was cheap, and it was sturdy. Here’s a picture of it. It’s dirty because I haul it around a lot.

I guess I don’t have to tell you why I posted the picture. It’s kind of shocking that a tech company would release a product that looks like that.

I didn’t choose it for its appearance. I wanted something else, but this was the practical choice.

A short time ago, it occurred to me that I could play video for my dad. I could take a laptop. I could show him Derek Prince videos.

Derek Prince was a British preacher. He studied philosophy at Cambridge, but his career was cut off when God manifested himself to him. Baldilocks recommended him to me. At first I didn’t listen, because I thought she was talking about Joseph Prince. I should have realized she wouldn’t recommend someone like that.

I watch a lot of Derek Prince videos, and I thought they might appeal to my dad.

I keep forgetting to take the laptop to the ALF, but tonight while I was sitting with my dad, it occurred to me that I could use the speaker to play audio from Youtube. We were listening to Wayne Cochran, and my dad was saying nice things about him, and I realized I could give Derek Prince a try. My dad didn’t object. I found some short videos and started playing them.

I needed to do something. Usually, my dad talks a lot, but tonight he was quiet, so the conversation was slow. Derek Prince was just what we needed.

I am conditioned to expect my dad to reject God. Every time we talk about God, I wonder if this will be the day he’s going to respond with the familiar ridicule and contempt. As Derek Prince spoke, I wondered what was going to happen.

I thought my dad was falling asleep. His eyes closed. He leaned back. I didn’t know if he was listening. Then he started telling me how good Prince made him feel. He wasn’t passing out; he was feeling peace.

He was thinking about the God Derek Prince described. He said, “‘Come on in!,’ he says.”

Somehow, he had decided God was telling him, “Come on in!” That wasn’t in the videos I played.

It made me a little nervous. My dad’s skin seemed to lose color and go to yellow. I wondered if he was drifting toward death.

He said he wanted to go inside, because it was cool in the courtyard. I reminded him I had left homemade cookies in the ALF kitchen. He didn’t want any, but he praised them. He said, “Those cookies are good, and they’re blessed.”

When things like this happen, you realize you’re not pushing the car any more. I had felt alone in trying to change my dad, but God was behind it the whole time, and I could see he had taken over. I never said anything about blessed cookies.

We prayed together before we went inside. I asked what he wanted to pray for. Usually, he lets me choose. Today he said something like, “To truly believe.”

We moved to the dining room, and I put my speaker on the table. My dad’s friend Charles, who talks to him about gambling, rolled over to the table and started talking to us. He’s a very nice guy, but he has delusions. He said something about how we needed to come pick him up later at his house on the mountain.

Charles picked up the speaker and said something about the “cross” on it. It doesn’t really have a cross on it. It has a plus button and a minus button. He crossed himself, and he and my dad started talking about God. I became a spectator at that point. Charles said something about how we have to believe, and my dad said he did. Charles said, “Jesus does’t make it hard for us. He makes it easy.”

Charles really likes both of us, and tonight, for some reason, he was moved. He gave his hand to both of us before he went on his way. He told my dad his hands were too cold and that he should put them between his thighs to warm them up. Again, I wondered if my dad was drifting off.

My dad wanted to sleep, so I wheeled him to his bed and drove home. That’s the end of the story.

I feel like God has taken him out of my hands. I don’t know what’s happening.

I hope I’m right, because I don’t have the power to fix my dad. I don’t want to carry the burden any more. I’m uncertain. I get discouraged. I need to hand my dad off to someone stronger who will take over.

One thing is for sure. I have a testimony.