A sensitive subject.....

I've been hesitant to share something with y'all.

I'ts not something that I'm ashamed of.....

it's just that it involves a very personal part of my life,

and a very sensitive topic.....

and also probably one with lots of different opinions.

Here, I'll share my own opinion from my perspective.....

which, in no way means I'm right,

please know that!!!

It's just what I've witnessed and felt in my own mind and heart.

For over 30 years I've been a part of a very destructive relationship.

Before you start wondering.....

it's not my own marriage.....

but that of my brother.

I believe this marriage was "unequally yoked" from the beginning.

Looking back, I so wish I had offered advice and counseling.....

but at the time, I was married and out on my own and had a child and really wasn't involved in the life of my brother at all.....

unless he had a problem.

I guess that's what a big sister is for, huh?

Over the 30 years of his marriage, 

I was called upon to intervene.....

by both him and my sister-in-law.....

sometimes in the middle of the night,

requiring an hour's drive to get there.

There were struggles, words slung in anger, separations, reconciliations.

A precious baby boy was born and he became the delight of Pappy and me.

We absolutely adored that baby boy.....

and still do.

But the relationship continued to decline.

Times were spent in church,

but more time letting the world inch in little by little.

Until.....

there was nothing more to hold onto!!

My advice to my brother many years ago was to leave.....

but he kept clinging to "God hates divorce".

We're told that in the Bible

I believe it.

But, in my heart here's why I think that statement is so true.

Divorce destroys the spirit of God's children.

It doesn't just affect the couple.....

but all those who love and care for them.

Relationships are destroyed.....

but again not just those of the divorcees.

Grandparents and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews and cousins and "in-laws"......

every single person in the life of that man and woman is affected in some way.

I so wish I could have fixed this marriage.

(giving myself a bit too much credit there, don't you think?)

I didn't have it in my power to make that happen.

I pray so often for my brother and my sister-in-law,

but most of all for our nephew.

Because of certain circumstances, we aren't able to see him.

He's struggling.....

he needs help and  guidance and most of all LOVE.

He really needs the LOVE that he can only find in JESUS!!!

So, there you have it.

This is something that has had a huge impact on my life for many years,

but especially the last 16 months.

I know that it will never actually be over for any of us.

But, I do know that we serve a mighty God.

And, I also know that nothing that happens to us is for naught,

not even the bad stuff......

the rotten to the core, hurts me to the bone stuff!

Because if we are truly HIS.....

He can take all those ashes of our lives and create something absolutely beautiful.

Romans 12:18

If possible, 

so far as it depends on you, 

live peaceably with all.

Breathing in Grace,