Kathy Cheek
About the Author

Kathy loves to write about the rich relationship God desires to have with us, and how that is walked out in everyday life and every circumstance.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. Dad left Mom about six or so years ago and didn’t want anyone from the family to find him. I respected his wishes.

    A few years went by and during a conversation with Grandma, she mentioned that Dad wanted me to call him. She gave me his phone number.

    I held on to it for a long time before actually calling.

    Since then I’ve spoken to him a couple times and saw him once. He’s a self-absorbed, broken, bitter old man, always blaming everyone else for his problems.

    I find myself tossed between wanting to care about him and wanting to run away, so this post is timely. I will ponder on it a while.

  2. May God continue to bless your writing as you thrive in the “new lightness and freedom” in your heart. This is an awesome, inspiring testimony of the Lord’s redeeming love. Thank you for sharing.

  3. I felt an immediate connect our stories are so similar, thanks for writing it I felt your healing as if it were my own. Listening to what God asks us to do isn’t always easy but the payoff sure is worth it in the end, isn’t it?

  4. I especially love how God took the decision out of your hands as you struggled with letting the letter go – “the mail carrier came by and the letter was gone.” He wants to help us as we strive toward the right choices. What a powerful and vulnerable story. Thanks for sharing.

  5. You and my husband share a similar journey. God is in the business of repairing hearts. We are only responsible for what we do; we can’t make the change in the other. I will pray that your father’s heart will soften and respond to you and to God, An awesome story!

  6. I thank each of you for your comments, your understanding, the shared stories, the shared journeys, may we all continue to grow in the grace God so richly gives,
    Kathy Cheek

  7. It is hard…
    Especially when I see my Dad and it’s like the abuse never happened. Although I know he’s different now, there’s never been any discussion of the past, no closure, no forgiveness. I don’t know how to forgive without closure. I want that “lightness and freedom in my heart from all the pain from the past.”
    Maybe I need to write a letter too…

  8. Hi Kathy! This is so touching. I pray that your father`s heart will also soften and I`m looking forward to read another post from you that you`re dad has returned back the love. 😉 Nothing is impossible with the Lord. <3

    I can imagine how hard it is to sign L-O-V-E at the end of the letter. Felt the same way before too–with friends and other people who have hurt me. And I am so blessed and inspired with you heart and courage to do that. Thank you! God bless!

  9. I had a really difficult relationship with my dad growing up too. Being able to forgive him gave me so much peace and joy! Thanks for sharing your story! I can relate so much!

  10. Sometimes I feel like you said you felt, doing something you dont “feel” like doing. Like you are acting, only you are doing it out of obedience to the word. I love the statement you made “I learned that God blesses obedience in ways we cannot fathom”.
    Forcing yourself to do something because you know that is what God wants you to do. It is an act of obedience.
    Thanks for the encouragement

  11. I was finally able to forgive my father this year (his anger was not as terrible as your experience, but it cut me deeply and influenced my life in terrible ways). His own father, my grandfather, was even angrier. At 93, my Pappaw is still an atheist and I pray that he’ll accept the love of the Lord before he’s gone. But it’s interesting –to say the least — to see patterns of anger and abuse repeated in families, back a hundred years in my case, and begin to feel healing in my own generation.