There are certain things in life that can sometimes leave you wasted and
torn. Acceptance is one of those issues. I sometimes wonder if having
survived the ravages of a dysfunctional childhood has left it's ugly
imprint on my soul and spirit. Too many times there have been feelings
of rejection which have ushered in a sense of lack of self worth. I've
never been particularly bright, or pretty or talented in any specific
way. Yet God tells us the we all have a purpose in living.
As a child I never had a family life like I would see on TV. No happy ever after, fairy tale endings. Yet when I married, I felt the Lord leading me to a man who was raised in a whole family. He was raised to be honest, sincere, a man of integrity and honorable. So many of the values that I never learned were radiated in this man's temperament.
One of our children recently married. I had always hoped that I would be able to establish a good relationship with my children's spouses. When I first married, I never felt I was fully accepted into my in laws circle, but in the long run, I think eventually my husbands parents learned to love me.
Recently I was informed that there would be no informality in what we would be called as the parents of our child. I was told that the new in law did not know us well enough. They did not want to hurt us, but in a sense, it felt like another rejection. When I married into my hubby's family, it was a formal acknowledgment until one day I started calling them by their first name. It was not rejected, yet I knew that my own MIL had called her own mother in law "Mom". That was not approved of in my situation.
Perhaps when we are accepted into God's family we should call Him Mr. God. No, He would never allow that. We are adopted as sons and daughters of the most High. He is to be my eternal heavenly Father, and I can call on Him anywhere and anytime. There are times when I would love to crawl up into his lap and cry like a baby. I know He hears my voice and sees my tears.
Perhaps I am expecting too much too soon. I am just thankful that MY Father in heaven has accepted me as I am. I am thankful that, even when everything else is taken away, I can always rely on Him.
As a child I never had a family life like I would see on TV. No happy ever after, fairy tale endings. Yet when I married, I felt the Lord leading me to a man who was raised in a whole family. He was raised to be honest, sincere, a man of integrity and honorable. So many of the values that I never learned were radiated in this man's temperament.
One of our children recently married. I had always hoped that I would be able to establish a good relationship with my children's spouses. When I first married, I never felt I was fully accepted into my in laws circle, but in the long run, I think eventually my husbands parents learned to love me.
Recently I was informed that there would be no informality in what we would be called as the parents of our child. I was told that the new in law did not know us well enough. They did not want to hurt us, but in a sense, it felt like another rejection. When I married into my hubby's family, it was a formal acknowledgment until one day I started calling them by their first name. It was not rejected, yet I knew that my own MIL had called her own mother in law "Mom". That was not approved of in my situation.
Perhaps when we are accepted into God's family we should call Him Mr. God. No, He would never allow that. We are adopted as sons and daughters of the most High. He is to be my eternal heavenly Father, and I can call on Him anywhere and anytime. There are times when I would love to crawl up into his lap and cry like a baby. I know He hears my voice and sees my tears.
Perhaps I am expecting too much too soon. I am just thankful that MY Father in heaven has accepted me as I am. I am thankful that, even when everything else is taken away, I can always rely on Him.
"Strange as it may seem, one of the primary purposes of being shaken by suffering is to make our faith more unshakable.
Faith is like muscle tissue: if you stress it to the limit, it gets
stronger, not weaker. That’s what James means here. When your faith is
threatened and tested and stretched to the breaking point, the result is
greater capacity to endure.
God loves faith so much that he will test it to the breaking point so as
to keep it pure and strong. For example, he did this to Paul according
to 2 Corinthians 1:8–9,
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not in ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
The words “but that was to” show that there was a purpose in this
extreme suffering: it was in order that Paul would not rely on himself
and his resources, but on God — specifically the future grace of God in
raising the dead.
God so values our wholehearted faith that he will, graciously, take away
everything else in the world that we might be tempted to rely on — even
life itself. His aim is that we grow deeper and stronger in our
confidence that he himself will be all we need.
He wants us to be able to say with the psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven
but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My
flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my
portion forever” (Psalm 73:25–26)." Quote by John Piper
It takes time and effort to get to know your new daughter in law. It did for us. The fact that she lived so far away, when we first met her, and now even further away, didn't make it any easier. We've worked at getting closer to each other. Every relationship takes time.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that it is so hard to get close, that she is putting up boundaries means that she needs unconditional love. Just love her, love your grandchildren and let God cover any offense. He will bless your relationship.
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