God Heals Family Wounds
"Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused." -- Psalm 140:9
Holiday gatherings are fraught with emotional minefields. Someone is bound to get upset with someone or about something. Someone is always an outcast. Children laugh and play until they are too tired to sleep but not too tired to cry. Christmas...peace on earth but not always around the family Christmas tree.
Families have the power to wound more quickly and more deeply than anyone else. They know exactly the buttons to push. Some of them have had years of experience. All it takes is a moment of jealousy and out come the fangs. They lash out because favoritism is something that they guard with everything they've got.
I find myself holding back, almost afraid to laugh and play with the kids. I'm afraid of being shoved aside -- sometimes physically -- by a grandparent who feels threatened because a child actually likes me. I steel myself against the inevitable nasty comments about gifts I chose. I know nothing is ever right because the name beside the "from" on the tag is always wrong. Family dynamics. I know my place. I do. It somehow doesn't stop the hurt.
I take shelter in God's arms. I thank Him for all I have and the family that casts me aside. They are family, after all, and in good health. I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for a place to live and food to eat. So many people don't have those things. I am thankful that today is Jesus' birthday and that He lives inside of me. I am also thankful that this isn't my real home and that one day I will be welcomed into a family that truly wants me and that, somehow, I will be enough.
A family's wounds stay with you. God understands. He is the healer of all things, including emotional scars from holiday gatherings.
1 comment:
Wow!!! That is pretty strong. So much I want to say but I will keep my mouth shut.
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