Our family is a very modern, patched-up family. I, the mom, is married to my third husband and I have children with all my husbands. So, all the kids have one mom – me – but they have different dads. This lead to a lot of conflict in our home.
Although my current husband is a loving man and accepted all the kids of the previous marriages as his own, the strife between the oldest son (from my first marriage) and him was constant. Both stubborn, equally believing in their point of view, refusing to grant the other a chance, they fought constantly.
Every word was met with a comment, or an attitude, and answered in kind. Although there was nothing kind about it. We dreaded family gatherings, whether around the Sunday lunch table, or anywhere else. Any event were marred by the constant friction between the two.
There was nothing I could do, but pray. Neither heeded my admonishment to seek peace and concede, rather than fighting it out to prove some ego-centred point. I would talk to my husband, and talk to my son, separately, trying to whisper sense into their ears. But they heard nothing.
So, I prayed.
I don’t even know when the change came about. It wasn’t a sudden flip that you could pinpoint… Just one day, when we went out to dinner, as we drove home I realised that there wasn’t any fighting at the table this time. No-one was angry, no-one fought, or made sneering remarks, or were obstinate.
This past weekend the boys went fishing. In the past, we had packed up early because of this infighting, so bad was it. I just prayed. It could turn so very ugly…
But, nothing. The boys did what was asked of them – albeit with a little moaning! They did their part, they behaved themselves, no-one got angry over nothing, no-one got angry – period. It was a great getaway for the boys and all of them enjoyed it!
Whether you think it possible or not, God can. You just need to pray and leave it with Him.
– MG, March 2021, RSA
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