To say that my father and I had a tumultuous relationship for the first 20 plus years of my life would be an understatement, but that is only part of the story. The last few years of his life reminded us that people can change, truly change. In fact, he showed us that it’s never too late to change and it proved that any relationship can be mended by God. My dad went from being my Kryptonite to being the dad I had always desired. Even though his life was cut short at the age of 50 because of a massive heart attack, I was able to experience some tremendous moments with him, moments that will always be in my heart.

My dad was an original. In a world of parody, his type was rare. He was one of a kind, No one was like my dad. He was far from perfect, but let me give you a newsflash, neither am I and this may come as a surprise to some of you, but neither are you. Through his imperfections, Stewart Johnson would be transformed by God into a very special and caring father.

A few years ago, I went back to Chattanooga to celebrate Christmas. It was so good to be home and ever since my kids were born, my relationship with my father was very special. We were out in his garage and he was working on a car, because he truly had a passion and a gift when it came to body work and painting cars. He loved it and he was so good at it. He was showing me a piece of sheet metal and I tried to seem interested, I never received the passion for cars like he did. But I just wanted to spend time with him, I yearned for that especially after not receiving that growing up. As he was showing me the piece of metal, I reached out my hand and I accidentally sliced my hand open on the sheet metal. Dad immediately dropped the piece of metal and very gently took me by the hand.

Keep in mind, I was 26 years old or so at the time. He took me inside and went straight to the sink in the kitchen. He carefully washed the water over my wound and bandaged it up. It was almost as if he was making up for lost time and I truly believe it symbolically cleansed and mended our relationship. The past didn’t matter, just like Jesus wipes away our past, He throws our past as far as the east is from the west. My relationship with my father was based on that same grace and mercy. The last 10 years or so we got so close, I can’t remember an ill word that we said to each other during the last few years.

I could hear the pride in his voice when he talked to me and always asked about my church that I was planting and he was always looking for ways to help. He called me a couple of months before he passed away and told me that he was going to start mowing some of the neighbor yards so he could give the money to the church. He was selfless because he discovered that this world’s treasures weren’t important. Having a relationship with God was the most important thing.

Several years ago, my dad was visiting my house and it was late at night. Dad was struggling with life as all of us have one time or another. His life was dominated by the weight of the guilt in his past. Missed opportunities, abuse of his body and the shame had taken it’s toll. That night, we got down on our knees together and we prayed together in my living room, for peace and healing. I assured him that through Christ, he no longer had to live in fear and with the shame and guilt in his life. Because of what Jesus did at the cross by dying a shameful, sinner’s death, all of us were able to live in freedom from that sin and our past. We became redeemed by His blood. When my dad passed away, he received the ultimate healing and the ultimate peace.

Even just a few months before his death, I was on the phone with dad and I asked him a pointed question. I said, “Dad, if you were to die tonight, do you know without a shadow of a doubt where you would spend eternity?” He said, “Yeah buddy, I do, I would be with Jesus.” I said, “That’s good, because I don’t want to spend eternity without you.”

To see how our relationship took a complete 180 and how God’s grace did such a restorative work in my father’s life was nothing short of a miracle. God once again demonstrated that He is the God of redemption and He can turn ashes into a new creation. He can take a man that was broken seemingly beyond repair for many years and through his mercy and grace can make him unbroken without guilt or shame.

It’s never too late for God to do that in your life. Don’t wait until it’s too late to reconcile with the ones you love. Life is too brief to hold grudges and allow the past to blind you to the present. You may be estranged from certain family members, maybe it’s time that you take the first step to allow God to restore that relationship. Make the first move today. I am thankful that I had a chance to tell my father that I loved him and that I forgave him.

I love Ephesians 4:31-32, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Put away all of your pride, forgive those that need to be forgiven and extend grace to those who need it the most. This requires us to love those who are sometimes frankly unloveable. Who is like that in your life? Who is your Kryptonite? Who is the one person that when you read this full circle story of redemption, that you think about? Trust me, everyone has a Stewart Johnson in their life.

This is an excerpt from Jeremy’s new book Unbroken.