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| Painting by Kostadin Dimtchev Kostov courtesy photobucket.com |
How can I honor my parents
when they are alcoholics, they quarrel, fight and spend money on themselves;
money that should go for our food?
This was a question put to me
by a young girl as she sobbed out her heart.
She did not feel even one
ounce of love and respect for either one of her parents, as they had never
shown her their love or affection. They
yelled at her and at times would beat her when she said she was hungry and
cold.
Finally they would leave her and
head for the local bar to drown out their sad existence.
Since I had never experienced
anything like this in my young life, I was at a loss as to how to answer her.
As I prayed, all I could
think of was the scripture verse that says to Honor your parents as unto the
Lord, and God will honor you with long life.
The young woman had been
attending our Sunday school, and had given her heart to the Lord, so I told her
this verse.
She sat for a long time, and
finally said. Perhaps I can see my
parents in a different way if I try. I
will ask Jesus to help me do things for them as if I was serving Him.
Later she told me that she had gone home, and instead of feeling sorry for herself, she washed the
dirty dishes that were in the sink and swept the floor.
Next she sorted some beans and put them in a
kettle on the stove along with a small piece of bacon and a slice of
onion. Not much was in the pantry, or in
the refrigerator, but she did have enough to make some corn-bread to go with
the beans.
When her parents arrived
home, they were reasonably sober and seemed pleased to find such a nice aroma coming
from the kitchen.
Her mother came to her side
and placed a hand on her shoulder, and mumbled the words, “Thank you.” The girl told her mother, “I love you and
wanted to do something for you.”
This was a start - - and the girl
whispered a prayer - - “Thank you Jesus for showing me how to honor my parents
- - when they probably didn’t deserve it.
Thank you for helping me to see them in a new light as I honor YOU.”
This post is linked to Peter
Pollock’s One
Word Carnival - -
The word is; HONOR
