Michael B. Brown writes in Men of Integrity:<\/p>\n\n
A friend told me about a boy who was the apple of his parents' eyes. Tragically, in his mid-teens, the boy's life went awry. He dropped out of school and began associating with a bad crowd.<\/p>\n\n
One night he staggered into his house at 3:00 a.m., completely drunk. His mother slipped out of bed and left her room. The father followed, assuming that his wife was in the kitchen, perhaps crying. Instead, he found her at her son's bedside, softly stroking his matted hair as he lay passed out drunk on the covers.<\/p>\n\n
"What are you doing?" the father asked.<\/p>\n\n
The mother answered, "He won't let me love him when he's awake."<\/p>\n\n
The mother stepped into her son's darkness with a love that existed even though he did not yet love her back. So it is with God and us.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[310],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3819,4088,4181,4400,4460,4612,4977],"tax_ctp_topics":[378],"class_list":["post-48270","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-divine-love","tax_ctp_tags-grace","tax_ctp_tags-human-nature","tax_ctp_tags-love-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-mercy","tax_ctp_tags-patience-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-sin"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n