A Blessing In Disguise

His Family

Before we found out I was pregnant, Ethan's family and I had been starting to get closer. I spent quite a lot of my summer over at their house. That's why I was so heartbroken when the truth came out. Not because of me, but his mother. I just knew it would never be the same, she would never welcome me in her home again, that she would resent me and try to talk him out of loving me at every chance she got. But she didn't. Instead, she came to me and asked my forgiveness for things she had said to others out of anger. She wouldn't accept my casual brushing it aside, my claims that it was only natural that she hate me and that she should say whatever she wanted about me. She was determined; she wanted my forgiveness. And then, through the grace of God, she asked me if she could start discipling me. Me! The girl, who from my point of view, had ruined all her hopes for her son, had ruined her relationship with her first grandchild, and the girl who had given her the most grief she had ever suffered in twenty-three years of marriage. She wanted to get to know me through Christ. To teach me with her knowledge of the Word, my weakest part of my relationship with Christ! This woman, who loves me as Jesus would ask her, took the time to cultivate our relationship with one another. I am so shocked, even now, at that kind of forgiveness. And I am so grateful. To have this sort of friendly relationship with someone who I would really like to be my mother-in-law is so incredibly rare, and I am so blessed enough to have it. And it helped me realize that this family isn't perfect. They, too, have dysfunction. The difference is that they go to one another and are honest about their issues and they take the time to care about one another. And I hope to model my own family after them. As for the rest of the family, my time with them has strengthened all of our relationships. Though there is still some tension here and there, I'm glad to say how much I love and care for these people, who nary a year ago I thought would curse my name at every opportunity. I'm not sure how much they really like me, but I'll bet they care about me, too. Which, frankly, is a miracle in itself. So I thank God for this baby that shook the foundation of his family. It brought us closer than I ever thought we would be, and it has brought another family to watch out for me. A family who really and truly attempts to love God with every action they take and every situation they face. A family who will last the ages. And a family I can admire and love with every dinner we have around that fabled dinner table.