Never Knew Faith

Never Knew Faith

Never knew faith
As a kid
Word never came up
Never taught by Mom or Dad
My only faith
As with my brothers
As explained in later life
Was Mom and Dad's love and care for us
That was it
That was all
Because they did
Most of the time
But that failed
That faith could not be trusted
Broken by screaming and anger at home
My faith was lost.
Like when you hang onto the dock of your favorite swimming hole
Feeling secure even though
There is 25 feet of deep lake beneath
And then all of a sudden
That handle of the dock
Breaks
I am too tired
I try to reach for something solid to grab onto
But I cant

I drop into the deep water
And down I go

That is what my faith life looked like

But then "Faith" found me
When I was 16
The Good Shepherd grabbed me
From the depths of despair
From that "deep dark lake"
And raised me to the surface
Never to let go.
I still did not understand
Who He was
And why He did that

But over the years
He explained
And I trusted
He gave me hope
Which I had confidence in
Even though I could not see
Him
I had assurance
That is Faith to me

When the battles of life
The darkness of life
Is so close
I hold onto the dock
That I know
Will not break away
I live through those tragedies of life
Those battles that seem about to consume me
And I flourish

I have faith
That is active
Thank you Good Shepherd
For holding onto me.