Monique found a Kleenex and mopped the tears from her face,
then got a fresh tissue and blew her nose.
After she washed her hands, she unloaded and put away the clean dishes,
then re-loaded the dishwasher, put a Cascade Complete tablet in the dispenser,
closed the lid, and pushed the “start” button.
Next she wiped down the counters and sink with kitchen disinfectant cleaner.
After she swept
the kitchen floor and damp-mopped it, she turned off the kitchen light, picked
up the letter and returned to the comfort of the chair in the living room. Gib still wasn’t home. What if
he’s out there with bad company doing God only knows what? The thought plagued her.
Monique opened
her Bible to Matthew 7:24-27 and read that the house built on the rock didn’t
fall down during the rain, floods, and strong winds that beat against that house.
It stood firm on the rock. That’s
what she wanted – no – needed. She was tired and very afraid in this house
of cards. She had to have peace and an
anchor. She found the Scripture in
Romans her grandmother mentioned and thought about it.
Finally, in an
attitude of surrender, Monique slipped to her knees in front of the chair and
prayed, “Jesus, please forgive me of all my sins and the mess in my life. I want to have this solid foundation I read
about here in the Bible. I need peace. I take you as the Lord and Savior of my life,
to have and to hold forever. Please,
God, help Jake’s and my marriage to get on the right track, and help Jake to
give his life to you, too.”
Peace and a sense
of relief came over her. As she knelt
there, tears again washed her face. The
feeling of being loved was so wonderful – she couldn’t explain it.
The front door
opened and Gib walked in. Monique stood
up, wiped her face with a Kleenex, and looked into the face of her son.
“Gib, where have
you been? I’ve been so worried about
you!” Monique walked toward him.
He held up his
hand in protest: “I don’t want to talk about it. You and Dad always fight, and I just can’t
take it anymore! You think I don’t know
when he comes home drunk? You think
I don’t know he’s doing drugs? He’s a
bum, and doesn’t even care about me. Just
cares about himself.”
“Gib, don’t say
that; your father does love you – in his own way. He just doesn’t know how to show it very
well.” Monique’s eyes filled with tears as
she looked down at the floor. She
wondered if Jake even cared about himself.
Jesus, what can I tell my
son? Please help me.
Gib headed toward
the kitchen through the living room to fix himself a sandwich and saw a Bible
lying on the chair and asked, “Is that a Bible, Mom? Why are you reading it?”
Monique smiled at
him through her tears and eagerly showed him her grandmother’s letter, and told
how she asked Jesus to take over her life.
“We need Jesus in our home, Gib.
Your father, you, and I each need Him as the foundation for our personal
lives.”
“I don’t know,
Mom,” Gib said. “What would my friends
think if I ‘go soft’ on them, and ‘get religion’ and all? And fat chance of getting Dad convinced.” Gib turned and went upstairs.
“Don’t you want a
sandwich? You must be hungry since you
missed dinner.”
There was no
answer.
Monique knelt by
the chair and stayed on her knees for a long time after Gib went to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment