Day 18: Family Reunion

January 2, 2019

It’s the second day of the year and I am thankful for the Lord’s surprises!

Life is short: Finish the unfinished business

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I am once again reminded about the long overdue Forgiveness Letter I was about to write my abuser from two decades ago.

How?

Of all the days and of all the people, I saw my abuser’s mom greet my family a happy new year.

Coincidence?

There is no such thing in the Lord.

The Lord orchestrates everything in His perfect time.

So, I shared this “nudging” with my husband as I told him the circumstances that led me to such a conclusion.

Yes, my husband knows about the abuse. He knows the details of my life – both the things I’m proud of and the ones I’m ashamed to tell others, even myself.

What was my husband’s response?

“How can I help?”

Amazing!

I didn’t expect such a selfless response.

I thank the Lord for reminding me about this “letting go” and for the support that my husband desires to give so that I could accomplish my “unfinished business.”

I thank the Lord for His reminder…

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. – Psalms 90:12

Life is short: Re-connect and plug in

My relatives on my mother’s side hold a family reunion every year.

I’ve heard a lot of stories about this gathering but never really had the chance to experience one until today.

I praise and thank the Lord for my mom’s generosity as she provided the means for us to attend our family reunion.

She sent a driver to fetch us and take us back home after the said event.

It’s been a very long while since I last attended our family reunion.

Normally, my excuse would be that I’ve been busy.

Since I am writing here to glorify God, I’m going to be honest and tell the real reason I don’t attend family reunions:

I don’t like the awkwardness that I feel when mingling with my relatives, especially with the changes that happened in my life in the past few years.

What happened?

A lot!

There were good days and there were challenging times.

What changed that I attended this year’s gathering?

The Lord’s kindness. His blessing on our marriage. That happened.

The shame was no more. The Lord lifted it.

Oh, there are no words to describe the peace in my heart now that I am a missus!

The freedom to express my love to my husband and to show the world about that love is liberating! And I thank the Lord for it (and even wrote a post about it)!

Now, I thank God that I can reconnect with my family again, this time the proud missus of my loving husband.

I thank God that I can reconnect my children to my relatives, that I don’t need to feel like a hypocrite when I tell my children that family is important (thus, reconnecting is relevant).

On our way home, I thank the Lord that we had an unexpected bonding opportunity as we sang the Cocomelon Song “Are We There Yet?”

We all took turns observing what we see on the road — houses, lamp posts, buildings, road signs, and a lot more. It was so much fun even our family driver participated!

God is good. God is really great! I know that the Lord will do amazing things for our family this year. And I’m excited! I really am.

Thank You, Jesus, for Your goodness and generosity through Mom and our family driver. Thank You for Your kindness and love shown through my husband. Thank You for second chances, my Jesus! I don’t deserve it, but You gave it anyway — willingly and with open arms, without judgment and condemnation, but with mercy and compassion. Thank You, my Jesus — the lover of my soul!

How about you?

Do you have any unfinished business in the past years that you finally want to finish, get done with, and tick off of your To Do List this year? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know in the comment section below.