Breath of Life

Genesis 2:7 states “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

If I took some dry seedlings and planted them on the ground, the mixture of the moisture, the dirt, and the internals of the seed ignite a spark of life that comes only from God.
When God breathed life into His son Jesus, He sent us a Gift.
When a man and a woman form a union and create a child, God has given them a gift.

When my daughter was born, it was one of the happiest days of my life. My life came full circle. The struggles I had faced in the past, the lonely times I’ve spent crying, the days I lived without feeling loved --- ALL were put into perspective. I had lived so that God could breathe life into this child. There isn’t going to be another Candra Victoria Lewis.
I acknowledged the miracle. God gave me a gift and from my heart I knew it was a gift I was going to treasure for the rest of my life. I felt just as blessed with the rest of my children.

As soon as I found out I was going to become a father, I had tried my best to do the right things. Sure I messed up along the way, I’ve done things I’m not proud of, I’ve said things that shouldn’t have been said. Overall, the only excuse I can come up with is I’m only human. You may have to give me thousands of chances as I will probably be forever a work in progress. But I can honestly say I have had nothing but the best interest of my children at heart on whatever endeavor I undertook --- and I had loved my children as much as any father could, if not more.

So today, I was sitting in church, the morning service almost over with --- I witnessed a baptism on stage. It was a father baptizing his daughter. There were no big speeches, no long and drawn out readings of scripture --- just a father full of pride that his daughter is acknowledging and accepting Christ into her life. I sat there thinking he had to have thought about the time he saw his daughter come out of her mother’s womb. He had to have thought about the trials he had faced in raising her, the times he had said things he shouldn’t have, the things he did that he wasn’t proud of.

Then I thought about my daughter’s recent baptism. Although it would have been an honor, my daughter WAS NOT baptized by me. Yet I needed to sit there and witness it because it was a glorious moment for her.

I pray that Lord can forgive me for walking out of today’s baptism. For now, I can’t take these father/daughter ceremonies. I am still struggling with this heavy burden that’s been placed on me.