Forgiving the Difficult - Encouragement for Today - October 23, 2019

Peace and perspective from God's timeless truths. [View this email in your browser]( Encouragement for Today --------------------------------------------------------------- Ocotber 23, 2019 Forgiving the Difficult [LATASHA MORRISON]( [Listen to this devotion]( “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” [Colossians 3:13]( (NIV) I grew up in an unsettled house, a place where screaming and slamming doors were common sounds. My mom and dad were always arguing, at least when my mom was around. She was a disappearing act, there one minute and gone the next, usually without any explanation. When I was 13, my parents separated, and three years later, they divorced … 13 and 16, both critical ages in a young girl’s development. As hard as the separation was, the divorce was more difficult, and when it was finalized, a sense of deep loss set in. Like so many kids, I chose a side in my parents’ marital struggle: my dad’s side. I blamed my mom for how often she’d been gone and for the secrets I suspected she kept. My once-happy demeanor gave way to anger and bitterness. It didn’t take long for my mother’s boyfriend to move in. My dad still paid the mortgage and took care of us financially which made me even angrier with my mother. I imagined Dad out there working, alone, paying for clothes and utilities, while we just went on with our lives. While my mother carried on with a new man. While everyone pretended everything was okay. Except I wasn’t too good at pretending. I went to college to escape my family mess, happily sailing away from those difficult and disappointing years. As I grew into adulthood, I tried to talk to my mom about how the divorce had affected me and about how I felt. But whenever I brought it up, she’d get upset and cry. Because I had no one to talk to, I bottled up my feelings, stuffed them and grew angrier. It became a burden I didn’t feel I could lift. But what couldn’t I see at the time? There are two sides to every story, including my parents’ divorce. During my sophomore year of college, I gave my life to Christ, and this was the saving grace for me. God helped me open up and talk about things and see that Mom’s actions weren’t all about my dad or me or even her secrets. Not really. There was something deeper, even if she couldn’t articulate it. Years later, my mom gave her life to Christ, was baptized and got her life back on track. As she walked into her new life, she sought reconciliation with me and opened up about her marriage and divorce. And about the rest of her life, too. She shared stories from her childhood — how her father had his own secret life and how she resented him for it, much the same way I resented her. [Continue reading...]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read about Salem Web Network]( | [Subscription Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( --------------------------------------------------------------- © 2019 Salem Web Network. All rights reserved. 111 Virginia Street, Suite 500, Richmond, VA 23219. This email is never sent unsolicited. You are receiving this email because your email address, {EMAIL}, is signed up to receive newsletters, updates, and special offers from Encouragement for Today. [Link](