Sometimes it's Hard. But sometimes you Win.

The last few years have marked extraordinary changes in my personal life.

Yes. I closed a chapter of my life, the one where I lived in the Pacific Northwest, about 50 miles south of Canada, eh?

How did I close that chapter? I prayed, out loud, to God. I asked for his help.

Oh yeah right.. I think we all do that from time to time. But this time God answered. In a big way.

At the time, I was not a "Christian." I was not "Saved." I had not been to a church, any church, for over 25 years. At the time, I didn't have any personal grasp of the depth behind words like Christian, Saved, Baptized... let alone the mind-boggling concept of Jesus.

To make a long story short, God paved the way for unbelievable coincidences that... even 'Vegas bookies wouldn't lay odds. I was able to find a 'high-tech' job in Chico, CA - the same town where Sean, my 17-year-old son lived with his mother. And it's a true thing: I needed to spend more time with Sean. I was able to sell a sailboat that I'd called 'home' for nearly a year - this, in a down economy, when it hard to even 'give away' boats. Never mind sell them, and walk away with any amount of money.

And then, once I'd moved to Chico, CA - I met my wife-to-be. The most beautiful and wonderful woman in the world (yes!). In so many ways, we're perfectly right for each other. Yet we never would have met, noway, never... except for my desperate prayer. MY prayer that God answered for me, personally to ME, back in those dark days of my life in January, 2008.

I think back to my old life, and all I can do is weep with joy. Indeed: God had a plan for my life, and was there to respond: to help when it was time for change. And YES - So much has changed for me. WOW!

Oh yeah... back to the topic of this post: What the heck is all this weepy-eyed preamble? What does this have to do with "Sometimes it's Hard?"

Okay: it's like this:

Last Monday was my birthday. Yahoo! I was able to get together with my son Sean and my wife Catherine, and we all went out to dinner. The three of us spent a grand evening chatting about my son's plans for college, his struggles with learning to drive a car, stuff about his girlfriend, and more. But somewhere during all of that, I was able to say:

"Sean, the best present you could give me for my birthday would be... could you come to church with us one day? See me and Catherine up there on the 'Worship Team,' playing guitar and singing? That would mean like, really a lot to me. Okay?"

To my Serious Surprise, he said: "Okay, sure!"

Hard? YES it was hard. I don't know where I found the courage to ask my son to come to church. Honestly, I didn't want to test the waters of religion with my son, especially considering that my own personal 'enlightenment' had been so recent. And to date, my son and I, we've shared nothing of ... of just how much my involvement with Church and God means to me. I mean, how much it means to me, personally.

Maybe that's the next hard topic for the two of us to share. Maybe a father-son 'bonding' time yet to come. And yes: I think him and me will 'win' that one too.

Win it? Yes. In fact, I know it.

Thank you, God.