By the Grace of God

In January I posted about a very real, very personal issue in my life. In order to grasp the gravity of this post, you can go back and read it here. After 4 court dates and lots of worry and stress later, my Dad had another hearing scheduled for today. I posted earlier on Facebook that I had some amazing news to blog about. I do. By the Grace of God, the arresting officer and my Dad's public defender were able to agree to amend his charges. He was still charged with possession of an illegal substance, but only a misdemeanor felony charge. The lab results found that he actually had enough to be charged with a First Class Felony that carried a charge of up to 15 years. I breathe a sigh of relief that this was reduced. The officer was pleased with the fact that my Dad took it upon himself to seek and stay in treatment. So the outcome of today is conditional release. He has to stay in treatment (have no lapse) and return to court in 6 months for the judge to view his progress. As of right now, he is almost 90 days clean. In the past 3 months (almost) I have spent more time with my Dad then I had in the past 4 years. This whole experience has been the best thing that has happened to my Dad. He is thinking more clearly, enjoying time with us, and enjoying his place in life. So, while this may not be a significant day to most, it is a great day for me. We celebrated with a great lunch at Hard Rock Cafe before I had to take him to his next AA meeting. I continue to pray for his recovery every day. I can now begin to work on my own knowing that at least he is safe from prison.