Forgiveness and Acceptance
I heard a story today of a woman who shared her experience with her ex-husband. She had been dealing with a custody battle for years and came to feel as though none of her inputs, feelings, or concerns were given any consideration. She had an agreement set up with her ex-husband on the days he would be with her children and the days she would be with her children.
The holidays are coming and she had said, “I don’t have a good experience with the holidays and I always look forward to when they are over.” Her ex-husband knew she was to spend Thursday with her children, but he then asserted that he was going to take the children that day. Then he casually mentioned that he was also going to be taking the children to someone in his family on Saturday, when Saturday was also a day scheduled for her to be with her children.
It was a situation I could not do anything about, other than listen. And, as I heard her speak, I heard more and more of my own situation that I USED TO have, that I now NO LONGER have. I wanted to offer her my suggestions and perhaps a new viewpoint that might help her. She sort of was playing the victim role and didn’t seem to realize how she was being responsible in the situation. She was blaming, acting entitled, was judging and holding onto the pattern of this relationship and how it had been going on for years.
If I could put my two sense into this situation for this woman, I would ask her to consider how she is being is responsible; if she can see how he feels, what she is still holding onto from the past, how she is blaming, judging, nitpicking and playing the role of the victim. She is playing the advocate for helping women who have gone through divorce, but it seems her heart is very much still hurting and she covers it up with a powerful confidence. My hope for her, is that she learns to forgive him, accepts the situation, learns to listen, and can one day surrender to this mans feelings. This may be the one thing that could bring peace to her family, and perhaps friendship between the two of them, instead of animosity!