“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ” Ephesians 2:4-5
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:31-32
This series of posts is dedicated to my mother Ruth as she is the inspiration. She was not a perfect person and certainly did not have an easy life, but she loved well, loved her Lord and clung to His promises.
Sometime around 1945-1946 while my parents were dating, my mother stopped by her home to pick up some belongings. Due to a previous altercation, she attempted to do this while her father was not at home. Sadly, he was. After a loud argument and in a drunken rage he pushed her down the steep flight of stairs between their apartment and the outside entrance. My father, hearing the argument, ran into the house and up the stairs in time to catch my mother from behind while her mother grabbed her skirt from the landing above. Roughly eight to ten years later, my grandmother filed for a legal separation and her attorney made this incident the basis of his case. Having to relive this event would upset my mother and haunt her for years. But in the midst of that pain, God in His mercy caused my grandfather to be so horrified by the details of this event that he stopped drinking and asked my mother for forgiveness. God in His mercy gave my mother the ability to forgive him and allowed the relationship to be restored. It paved the way for my siblings and I to know our grandfather.
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