It was September 1967. The hippie movement was in full swing, along with anti-war demonstrations, draft-dodgers, long hair, beards and short skirts. I was 14 years old.

My family was having an early Christmas because my dad was going to Vietnam later that month. I was told he was going to Saigon, which was considered to be safe. Oh, did I fail to mention there was a war going on there?

Needless to say, I was scared for him and for us. After he left, we wrote to each other, I sent him things from time to time, and I prayed every day. But after some time, I stopped receiving letters from him. Before long, a couple of very distinguished men came to our door driving a government vehicle. We knew this was not a good sign. We all found ourselves in the living room hearing something our ears were not ready to hear. They said that my dad was an MIA _ missing in action _ during what they called the Tet Offensive. They didn’t know much at the time, but promised to keep us well-informed. My life as I knew it began to crumble around me. Fear, anxiety and sleepless nights seem to be part of my life, but something or someone seemed to tell me inside to pray and not give up. Every night I prayed a simple prayer, but the years passed by.

I’m not sure if you know this, but God loves you and he still answers prayer. The Bible says, it’s the goodness of God that leads men and women to repentance. God is a god of love and forgiveness, and he wishes that no one would perish but all would have eternal life in him and with him.

You may think that God is out to get you, or you could never measure up to receive God’s forgiveness, but that’s not so. On the other hand, it’s possible that you think you are good enough the way you are. That’s not so either.

Whether you are a good person, have been baptized, go to church or pray does not guarantee you a place in heaven.

Do you know where you will go when you die? For me, that question bothered me. Where would I go when I die? I did not know for sure. I had only hoped. Eternity is far too long to hope or to be wrong. The Bible tells you that you can know for sure. See 1 John 5:13.

I believed there was a God or I wouldn’t have prayed for my father. I believed that this world didn’t just one day show up without somebody much bigger than me orchestrating it. For me, God was opening my eyes by answering the prayers of a boy who darer to believe God was able to do the impossible.

Five years went by and a lot had happened. I graduated from high school, got married, had a son and lost him through a heart problem. I had become a carpenter and a musician in those years. But I never failed to keep praying and believing that someday God would do the impossible and bring my dad home again.

Then on my 20th birthday, I saw the biggest miracle in my life. I saw my dad for the first time in more than five years. The reunion I had waited for and prayed for had finally come. The war ended. They released the prisoners, and my dad, Norman J. Brookens, was among the list. I thanked God for his faithfulness. He not only saw fit to bring my father back from a hell on Earth, but he even made it a point to present my father to me on my 20th birthday as a birthday present from Jesus. That present has been hard to beat ever since. There is only one present better, and that’s Jesus laying his life down for us 2,000 years ago as the gift above all gifts.

It was through God’s goodness to us that our whole family gave our hearts to Jesus, one by one. You see, the Bible says, "If you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess Him as your savior and Lord you will be saved. For with the heart man believes and with his mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:9-10.

If you are not aware of ever doing that before, then do it now. Ask him to forgive you of your sins and come into your heart. He will give you assurance that you have indeed received a birthday present from Jesus, just like me, Jesus himself and with him eternal life.

The Rev. Kenneth Brookens is pastor at Living Water Faith Fellowship in Oneonta.