Days 308 - 310 - God is SO Good!

I was 16 or 17 years old when the cranky, grumpy electrician walked onto the construction site. Elmer, his absolute real name, had marched his way onto my father's construction site in the same manner for days on end, his overweight belly leading the way through the threshold of the newly-built doorway, as he shouted and barked orders and grumbled about his morning.

But that morning, while he was in the middle of his tyrannical outburst, I stood up from the electrical outlets I was working on, quickly walked over to him, and hugged him with the biggest bear hug I could squeeze onto that middle-aged and portly man.

Elmer immediately melted into a puddle of tears as he held me back with just as much force as I held him. And from then on, we were fast friends. From then on, Elmer walked through the doorway of the construction site with a smile on his face as I would jump up from whatever task I was performing and greet him with a morning hug.

This scenario played through my mind as I was praying for the millionth time that the Lord would help me reconcile with my estranged mother-in-law, who was due to arrive at my home in a few short hours. "Okay, Lord...I get what you're telling me to do. I can do that. It won't be easy, but I'll obey your nudge in this, if this is what it'll take for us to be friends once again."

Two hours later, my mother-in-law pulled up to the house. My children ran outdoors, screaming and hollering in excitement. I took a deep breath...and walked out to greet her, too. My heart was pounding and my palms were sweaty. She hugged each child one by one, and then stood and looked at me. I walked to her, put my arms around her neck, and hugged her with a hug just like I'd given Elmer all those years ago. And she held on just as tightly. We stood there hugging one another for quite a bit. And then we pulled away and looked into each other's eyes and smiled.

Yep, God had done it again! God had intervened in my life when everyone else said it couldn't possibly happen. When I thought the situation was doomed and hopeless, God repaired it and mended it without leaving a single danging thread. God is SO good!

"Stop being mean, bad-tempered and angry. Quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. Instead, be kind to each other, forgiving...because you belong to Christ." Ephesians 4:31-32 TSB.

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When the company had gone for the evening and my husband and I were lying next to one another in bed, we thanked the Lord for the restoration in my relationship with his unsaved, non-Christian mother. God truly has worked in this triangle of relationships: mother-in-law, son, daughter-in-law. God has helped my husband learn to cut the apron strings that bound him to his mother...God has taught me how to forgive someone who has hurt me so deeply...and God has worked in a non-saved woman's heart in leading her towards reconciliation. Praise the Lord!