I want to share a personal testimony. Many of you, my brothers and sisters in the Lord, over the years, have prayed for my family. I praise the Lord for that. Prayers for youngest son Daniel who has Down Syndrome, and prayers for my oldest son Christopher, who had, to say the least, a very challenging life due to sin and breaking the law. He is 38 now, but all of his troubles really began back in high school. The police were at our door a lot. After he left high school he just kept on going. Alcohol and drugs and crimes related to that. Violence and lies. It broke me as a father and I threw myself at the feet of Jesus. If I tried to get up on my own two feet, I would quickly be knocked back down. I was in over my head and I had no idea how to handle that. The old Frank was  constantly screaming for control. It was really an exhausting battle. I was being thoroughly broken. I cried out to God from the depths of my heart, on my knees, more times than I can remember. In the quiet of the night, walking the floor, many many tears. In the morning getting up, and being strong again for the family.

It all came to a head when he was arrested for a very serious crime. The police had been watching him for many months and they had turned one of the guys who bought from him and sent him in to make a purchase and that is when they swooped in and arrested him. They wanted him to turn on the guy above him, but he refused to. And so he was under house arrest awaiting trial. He had to blow into a machine which also takes your picture. Unbeknownst to me, he had a bottle of Whiskey in the basement. A surprise call on the machine at 2am in the morning caught him of guard. He was to turn himself in immediately to be incarcerated. Rather than doing that, he cut the GPS unit of his ankle ( a felony in and of itself) and went on the run for well over a year. We had the US Marshals at out door. He ended up in Scotland and then finally he was caught by the Federales in Mexico. Extradited to Florida and then extradited to Kansas. He was finally home. I agreed to get him a “good,” lawyer, but only if he pleaded guilty to his charges. He reluctantly agreed.

He was remanded in jail and was eventually sentenced to three years in Lansing state prison in Kansas. For the first time in our whole lives, we really began to establish a relationship. I would visit him most Saturdays. In the middle of all of this we faced two horrible court battles in order just to see our grandson. Through every moment in this story there was miracle after miracle, not least the miracle of our sanity. My wife and I grew much closer together and a few times we would just look at pictures of Christoper and Mason and cry together. It was “our pain.” It is hard to explain God’s favor sometimes but every step of the way, He was one step ahead of us. When I was down and thought I could not get back up, He picked me up. When my mind was like a violent sea with mountainous waves, He came to me and whispered that He was jealous for my thoughts and suddenly the waters were still.

It has been around eight years now since Christopher has been released. He committed his life to Jesus and has been out of trouble. A few months ago he came to me and told me he was going to apply to have his three felonies expunged. I was delighted with that idea. Myself and a dear brother prayed about this, as did Christopher’s Godly grandma. Two of the three records were expunged but the most serious of the crimes, the drug dealing was not. When he was sentenced he was put on a drug dealing registry. Very few States have them but Kansas did. For 15 years he has to register with the local Sheriff every three months and pay a fee. If he traveled anywhere in the county, the local Sheriff of where he was going had to be notified. The Judges hands were tied, by law, he could not expunge it. We thanked and praised the Lord for the two that were expunged and committed the other one to His will. About three weeks ago Christopher got a letter from the prosecutors office. The law had just been changed. If you had stayed out of trouble for five years after your probation was over, then the judge now has the discretion to expunge. Yesterday Christopher was in front of the judge and this final part of his history was erased.

I thought about the world expungement. In practical terms it means that if you look up Christopher’s record now, he does not have one. It is like he never had this past. How many of us have been Spiritually expunged? No matter our past, the forgiveness and mercy and grace of the Lord wipes it all away, born again. Renewed. I want to take a minute today to publicly thank my Heavenly Father! And my Lord Jesus Christ who sticks closer to us than a brother. And the power of the Holy Spirit to move over and over again. No matter how many waves threaten to drown us, His hand kept our heads above water. We stand, because of His great love. An incredibly broken situation that seemed to be irreparable, has been put back together by the magnificent Hand of God. Maybe you think your own situation or your family situation is broken beyond repair? Its a lie. There is nothing that God cannot put back together. Take your pieces and bring them before the throne. It is there alone that an all powerful, loving God can take the ashes of your situation and make something beautiful out of it. There is a history of rebellion in my family, but there is a greater history of redemption.