Brother, Keep Pressing On
Written By Raphaelita Karah Newton
Dedicated to Mr. John Martin III
 December 14, 2009
                                                                
    As JMartin looked in the mirror, he saw a man that he was not familiar with. This man was in his mid-fifties. The reflection of the  man staring back at him was one who was entering the winter of his life. JMartin was startled to see that the man looking back at him in the mirror was himself. A sharp pain struck him in the pit of his stomach.
The puzzled expression on his face said, is it possible that I have been walking upon the face of this earth for over a half of a century?  Wow! What happened to time?  A jumble of confused feelings arose in the core of his being: disappointment, loneliness, regret, dispair, even hopelessness. Then he realized that the man in the mirror had tears streaming down his face. It was he, himself,  who was crying. Out of no where, a barely perceptible re-assuring comfort took form and surfaced above the negative feelings that bombarded him. This feeling was one of warmth, like the fresh morning sunshine. His mind came alive with a distinct impression: my son, my blood will wash away every sin you have ever committed. Surrender all to me, and you will soar like an eagle with me in the winter of your life.
JMartin had made a lot of wrong decisions. He had deeply hurt a lot of people in his life. He had disappointed and disrespected many. He had betrayed, lied and disgraced so many people in the spring of his life. Yet,  he knew within his soul that this warm voice had never abandoned him. In the midst of the rubble of his life was the love of his Heavenly Father. There was indeed a future and a hope for him in Christ.   
He prayed for the wounds that he had so carelessly inflicted on others, knowing that his God was powerful enough to heal every one of the wounds that he had caused others. He made up his mind that he would reach out,  if possible,  to those that he had hurt, and apologize. He also realized that only God could give the ultimate healing to those individuals. He knew that he had to totally trust God, as he approached the latter season of his life. He could not go back into the past to change any of the wrong decisions that he made. There was no need to dwell on the past and be weighed down by things he could not change. However, he knew that he had to rely on God to heal those past wounds. It was time for him to receive the forgiveness of God, and to move forward with the remaining years of his life.
He looked back in the mirror. The man in the mirror was no longer crying tears of sadness. The tears running down the face of the man in the mirror were tears of hope, joy, faith, and anticipation for better days. Most of all, he knew that the man in the mirror was loved by the Great Shepherd. He was keenly aware that he would have to deny himself and pick up his cross and follow the Shepherd, who had been quietly waiting on him all those tormenting years of his life. He knew that this Great Shepherd could restore and make him whole. Quietly, gently, this Great Shepherd will share with him His unconditional love. This Great Shepherd had planned for JMartin a good life despite the wrong decisions he had made in the past. The blood of the Great Shepherd had washed away those sins. The Great Shepherd knew and loved JMartin. 
Over those past thirty years, when JMartin looked into the eyes of his beautiful children he saw the blessing of God shining  bright as the noon day sun on their countenance. It never ceased to amaze him how God had blessed him with his children in spite of the ups, downs and the back turns in life. These three children were a testimony that God’s grace was possible in any situation.   JMartin always knew in his heart that His Heavenly Father would restore him back to  the destiny and purpose that God had called him at the age of seventeen that he had run from. JMartin’s  destiny and purpose were to please God, and to speak hope to others  who were on the wrong path just as he had been.   
JMartin had a sincere longing to step back into time and recapture the  last thirty years of his life. He wanted to make right some of the wrong decisions he made so many years ago. JMartin knew that this was impossible. Yet he knew that since the Father had kept him through every wrong turn in life, that God truly had a purpose and a plan for him. This thought brought a soft smile to the man in the mirror staring back at him. Then he heard a song rising up in him, a song he had heard many a Sunday while attending his grandmother’s church as a teenager. The song calmed his aching heart, and gave him an inner peace that could have only come from his Heavenly Father.