CHRISTIAN PARENTS of ESTRANGED ADULT CHILDREN Community Group
Estrangement makes it difficult to talk about with family, friends, neighbors and church members. Christians are NOT immune to broken families. Talk about your experiences with those who know how you feel and get positive support through your Christian faith...."In these last days difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self...disobedient to parents,...
Okay - 40 years ago I was engaged to a person who wasn't living an honest life, must less Godly. I was the happiest person in the world. Then he came to me telling me he didn't want to be engaged anymore and literally tore the ring off m finger.
I called my cousin who lived about an hour away and she came to get me. We drove to her place, in her beautiful yellow Camero, in the pouring rain and it was midnight. I just cried and prayed over and over and over "Dear God, PLEASE bring [boyfriend] back to me; I will do anything for you; I love him."
All of a sudden the space above the hood of her car was dry, yet still raining all around us, and an angel appeared and said "I will bring [boyfriend] back to you, but you will not want him." And she was gone. I asked my cousin if she saw the angel and I think she thought I was crazy. All she saw was rain.
After a few weeks, he did come back to me, apologized, begged, and of course I took him back - gladly. I was so happy. As the weeks went by I began to see things in him that I hadn't seen before. One morning I woke up and a flash of life with him came to me. That day I broke off our second engagement and never looked back.
A few years later God brought my current husband into my life. We have been blessed with a wonderful walk together, blessed with 2 sons, and worked in and lived with a strong Christian community. Oh, there are always little arguments, but it is so obvious God had a hand in my life.
So, in my case at least, I didn't need to write down or journal what God spoke to me. It is embedded in my heart. God has spoke to me other times and then there were times he was silent and I cried out - don't you hear me God? I think God wanted me to figure a few things out for myself. I love the Footprints words that speak so much volume about when God walks beside us and when he carries us.
I called my cousin who lived about an hour away and she came to get me. We drove to her place, in her beautiful yellow Camero, in the pouring rain and it was midnight. I just cried and prayed over and over and over "Dear God, PLEASE bring [boyfriend] back to me; I will do anything for you; I love him."
All of a sudden the space above the hood of her car was dry, yet still raining all around us, and an angel appeared and said "I will bring [boyfriend] back to you, but you will not want him." And she was gone. I asked my cousin if she saw the angel and I think she thought I was crazy. All she saw was rain.
After a few weeks, he did come back to me, apologized, begged, and of course I took him back - gladly. I was so happy. As the weeks went by I began to see things in him that I hadn't seen before. One morning I woke up and a flash of life with him came to me. That day I broke off our second engagement and never looked back.
A few years later God brought my current husband into my life. We have been blessed with a wonderful walk together, blessed with 2 sons, and worked in and lived with a strong Christian community. Oh, there are always little arguments, but it is so obvious God had a hand in my life.
So, in my case at least, I didn't need to write down or journal what God spoke to me. It is embedded in my heart. God has spoke to me other times and then there were times he was silent and I cried out - don't you hear me God? I think God wanted me to figure a few things out for myself. I love the Footprints words that speak so much volume about when God walks beside us and when he carries us.
So, we did come back here, leaving my adult son, just 18, there. Our daughter came with us....and that was wonderful (she was nearly 17) as it got her away from evil influences and broke her need for drugs. At every junction, my husband has been discouraged in his attempt to preach. He has filled in here and there, done funerals for family but as for a steady ministry, he has fallen short. He is saddled with me, an unhealthy wife. Most churches want a husband and wife team, paying only for the husband (pastor).
Throughout this process, as he has continued to call out to God for guidance, we watched as my now healthy and wonderful daughter and her husband minister in many ways. Our son in law is currently a Youth Pastor and she and the six grandchildren are very active with him. It took us both a while to realize that what God had been telling him was, bring your family here, yes, but it is your daughter who I had plans for just now.
He saved my daughter, who has a past she needed saving from.(don't we all?) My husband still listens for His word to direct him and He has. That I can share at another time. I guess my point in all these words is that we must listen carefully and quietly to what God says to us. I have never heard His voice. That doesn't mean He hasn't spoken to me. I probably haven't been listening. This entire topic and others before it have encouraged me to do just that. So I ask for all your prayers as I venture in to learn what God wants from me.
Thank you all for your comments and for sharing things that aren't always easy.