If you watch movies, dramas and perhaps read novels, you will probably encounter discussions on parallel universes, about how a person can have two totally different destinies in two different universes due to the different choices he/ she made at critical moments.  I have encountered and seen something like a “two destinies” moment in my life, but probably a little different from what you are expecting.

Before I start my story, I would like to confess that I did not have a close relationship with my parents. I have younger siblings, and my parents would spend a lot of time on them. Many times I felt like an outsider in my house. As if my younger siblings and my parents were one family and I was just a tenant. I felt so distant from my parents such that many times I dreamt that my real “birth parents” would come looking for me. (Of course. It never happened, because my parents are my birth parents.) So, the result of this was that I grew up telling myself that I did not need my parents’ love, and everything was ok. After coming to know the Lord, I am thankful that God opened my eyes of love and I started to see many details and tiny gestures in my parents’ actions that made me realise that they truly care and love me.

Anyway, the story took place sometime last year, when I was at home with my family. My 6 years old sister was playing with a balloon and made a lot of noise. (The huge age difference between my sister and I is another story.) My father got annoyed and snatched the balloon from my sister. The balloon, being elastic, recoiled and hit my sister’s lips when he tried to take it. My sister had tears in her eyes and sat down quietly. I knew my father did not realise that he had hurt my sister. I told my sister to tell him that he had accidently hurt her. He loved her and it was not his intention. She shook her head and told me that my father does not love her and he would scold her. I offered to go with her to him so that he could apologise in some way.

When I told my father that he had accidently hurt my sister, his response was, “I did not hit her.”.

“Yes, you didn’t, but the balloon had accidentally hit her lips.”

He was quiet for a second, I knew he was not the kind of man that would say sorry to his children, so I told him, “Why don’t you give her a pat on her head?”

My Dad responded by patting my sister’s head multiple times and said “Ok, ok, let’s pat pat, I can even give you a hug!” My sister received her big hug and she broke into a huge smile. I asked her, “Do you believe now that Dad loves you?”, She replied immediately with a nod and a “yes”.

My father’s response was way out of my expectation. I thought a pat was good enough, I never thought he would be so willing to reconcile and express his love for my sister. When I look at my sister, she is just like me when I was younger. We did not think that our Dad loved us and we felt that there was no way of communication. I believed in the lie that my Dad did not love me and so, I spent more than 20 years distancing myself from my Dad.

I saw at that point my sister was like me, but she had someone who had a little more knowledge of the love of God and about the inadequacy of human expression of love to give her guidance. From that moment, I felt her destiny, which was about to go down the same path as me, turned and went another way. She is now going to grow up with a closer relationship with my Dad and with more assurance in his love.

I had mixed feelings in my heart. On one hand, I was really happy to see my sister having a better relationship with my father. On the other hand, I mourned at my life. I could have been like her. If I had the Word of God or someone to guide me when I was younger, my over 20 years of relationship with my father would not have end up so distant.

I am still thankful, because I could have believed in the idea that “Dad does not love me” till my deathbed. But thankfully, God called me in my youth and made me realise that my Dad loves me, though in an imperfect way. For my Dad was never taught the right way to love.

When we live in this world, we may be trapped by many lies that are going around. The wisdom to know the truth and to love is in God. He will open our eyes to see the truth of all things.

Let me end with this verse from John 8:32:

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.