It was Five o'clock in the evening and the traffic was heavy as Jim crept down the freeway toward the airport. It had been seven long years since he had seen his son Michael and this slow pace was not helping with the anxiety and anticipation that Jim was feeling.
Twenty years ago, Jim had been young and impulsive. During spring break of his sophomore year at Stanford, he and some friends had gone up to Aspen Colorado on a ski trip. That’s where he met Jessie. She had long brown hair and dark eyes, and Jim really had to work to keep up with her on the slopes.
Jim knew all the things he had been taught in church about Love and relationships. But it had been so easy to just let his guard down and let things happen. By the time the trip was over Jessie was already pregnant.
There was never any question about ending the pregnancy. Jessie had been raised in a family that believed in God and that life begins at conception. Although the implications were difficult and had a great impact on his life, Jim also agreed that abortion was not an option.
After Jim finished his finals for the year, he moved to Colorado and married Jessie. They spent the next two years trying to do the “right thing” but the situation seemed to go from bad to worse. Jim had to put his dream of being an Architect on hold and went to work as a carpenters apprentice building houses. Jessie had been going to the University of Colorado and was planning on a medical career, but with the baby coming, she too had quit school.
After two years of tension over their living situation, and the loss of their dreams, there wasn’t much there to keep them together. Jim had finally moved out and returned to California. Jessie and the baby, (Michael) had moved in with Jessie’s parents in Denver.
Looking back on the situation, Jim knew that if he had really turned to the Lord things would have turned out differently. At that time in his life, he had still been trying to do what was right and to correct his own mistakes instead of letting the Lord work inside him to change his heart and create what God wanted. Now, twenty years later, was the Lord giving him another chance to be part of Michael's life?
Finally Jim reached the airport and made his way to the gate just as the passengers were starting to come up the jet way. Michael was easy to spot. He looked more like his grandfather on his mother’s side with his blond hair and blue-green eyes. Jim and Jessie both had dark hair and brown eyes. He was six feet four inches tall, almost two inches taller than Jim. That, at least, came from Jim’s side of the family. Everyone on Jessie’s side was shorter than six feet tall.
What should I do now, thought Jim. A handshake, a hug, neither one seemed adequate. It was an uncomfortable moment for both men, but soon they were shuffling their way out to the baggage claim area.
The next step was to take Michael home and introduce him to Sara and Sam. When Jim had left Jessie and Michael, he came back to California and had tried to keep himself busy. Four years went by before he and Jessie officially got divorced. After that, Jim had dated a little but he hadn’t felt very comfortable with anyone and kept to himself for the most part.
Jim had done some construction work during the summers while he was in high school and had been able to get hired on as a carpenter building houses. After about five years, he had started going out on his own doing small remodel jobs for people he knew. After a few jobs working evenings and weekends, Jim realized that there was plenty of work to keep him employed full time as his own boss. Now after 12 years of being in business, Jim had seven full time employees and another three or four part time employees. They did everything from small remodel jobs to building small office complexes.
Jim had continued to attend church regularly and that is were he had finally ran into Sara. He had seen her several times before at the church and thought that she was awfully pretty. She was taller for a woman, about five foot six, with long blond hair and blue eyes. It had been the pastor’s twentieth anniversary at the church and everyone stayed after the evening service for cake and ice cream. That's where he ran smack-dab into Sara while walking around a corner. She had been carrying two cups of punch and they both went straight up into the air and drenched Jim and Sara.
They had laughed and gotten dried off. Eventually Jim offered to give her a ride home and after that, they started seeing each other. Sara had been married before also. She had married a boy from the church she had grown up in near Spokane, Washington. It wasn’t long before she started to hear the rumors about her husband seeing other women. Still, Sara had tried to make the best of things but when she had come home from work early one day because she was sick and found him in there bed with her best friend, it was all that she could take.
Sara packed up her clothes and a few special things into the car and headed south. She stayed with some friends in San Diego for a few months until she had been able to get a job and an apartment for herself.
Once Jim and Sara had met, they tried to give their relationship to the Lord and let Him make of it what He would. It was hard at times not to give in to their own desires, and at times they made mistakes. But the more they had kept Jesus in the center of their relationship the better it had become. After about a year and a half they got married and a year later Sam was born. Samantha, or Sam, was a beautiful little girl with blond hair and blue eyes. She was smart as a whip and kept both of them on their toes. And talk about independent, at two years old she had been ready to take on the world by herself, now that she was five she was definitely a handful.
After getting Michael's bags they went to Jim's truck and started for home. Jim asked about Michael's schooling, and they talked about what the Navy would be like and before long they were pulling into Jim”s driveway. As they got out of the truck, Samantha’s face was smashed up against the front window of the house as she attempted to see what her half-brother was like.
As the men came into the house, Sam suddenly became very shy and tried to hide behind Sara’s skirt. After introductions were completed, Sara said that dinner would be ready in half an hour and disappeared into the kitchen. Jim and Michael sat down in the living room and Sam wrapped herself around Jim’s legs while staring at her brother.
The conversation continued, and Michael mentioned that he had been seeing one girl for quite a while. Her name was Jamie and he hoped that at some point they would be married. He also talked about wanting to establish himself in a career of law enforcement and police science.
Jim wanted to jump in and explain just how important it was to have the Lord be the center of his life. That no matter what he was doing or where he wanted to go, that if he would put Jesus first, his life would be far more fulfilled and complete. Jim also realized that this was something that had to be experienced to be understood and he didn’t want to put a wall up between himself and Michael by coming off like some kind of religious fanatic. He knew that Michael had gone to church all of his life and had accepted the Lord when he was young but he also knew that most people don’t allow themselves to go past that point and let God have control of their daily lives.
The conversation continued through dinner and on into the evening, with Sara joining in. They talked about politics, world events and many other topics. Jim resisted the urge to preach to Michael and explain that if Michael could just learn from Jim’s experiences he would be so much further ahead.
Michael spent the night in the guest bedroom and then Jim took him to the Navy base in the morning to report for his first day at boot camp. Overall, Jim was happy with how things had gone. He still regretted not having spent more time with Michael while he was growing up. The cost of going back to Colorado had been part of the excuse as well as the time off work. It had also been difficult being around Jessie especially after she had gotten remarried, so he had only been back there a few times while Michael had been growing up.
