On a Guitar and a Prayer

Since Gary’s death I have had a hard time convincing Nicholas that there is a God. He said to me once that he thought God would never do something as cruel as to take his Dad from him. In such a wounded state that we were both in, I was not about to argue his point.

But, little by little, I have tried to make him aware of the presence of angels in his life, of his Dad’s ever-present spirit and God’s input into all things. Small miracles would happen and I would point out that perhaps God had a hand in such an act. For me, at times, the only way to get through the tragedy of losing Gary was to have faith that there was a bigger plan and that it was certainly not in my hands.

I have been asking Nicholas to write down 5 things each evening that he is most grateful for and then we pick from a deck of spirit cards. Amazingly, he seemed to pick out cards that were related to a lesson he had learned that day or it would be an inspiring thought that would help him get through his struggles. I was taking one step at a time to bring him back home to his heart.

Today another miracle happened (for life is full of them don't you know). Nick has always wanted to learn the guitar but because he never really stuck to anything Gary was always hesitant to put, yet again, money into something he quickly lost interest in. When he went to Australia he met a family who took him in and he became very close friends with their son, who, happened to be in a band. Nick was very inspired to write lyrics to songs and he seemed to open up to the music.

Today he came home with a guitar and announced he was taking lessons. I was not surprised. Then he told me a story. He said he was talking to the shop owner when a lady came in to buy something. She spoke to him a bit and he told her how he thought it was cool that he had always wanted to learn to play the guitar and how this little music shop had just opened. She turned to him and said, “I guess God thought you were ready to learn.” Then she paid for her purchase and left. I smiled when he told me this... and then, so did he.

Inspiration comes from many places, but its beam comes from only one place.

I did a lot of praying in the last three years regarding Nick. Prayed that he would find his way back to his heart for he was such an angry young man after his father’s death. Prayers are always answered.

And tonight I have something wonderful to write about in my gratitude journal.