To forgive, no matter what

My husband and my children are all alcoholics. Until last year, my eldest son Tom was living with his girlfriend, and both of them became drug addicts too.

About a year ago my son came back home because he had fallen out with his partner. In the meantime however, she had had a child. It really upset me to think about the situation of this little grandchild.

I blamed the mother and one day when I met her on the street, I openly accused her of all sorts of things. This left a lot of bitterness on both sides. When I got home you can imagine how guilty I was at having failed to love her. No matter how many excuses I gave myself, telling myself that I was right, that I did it for my grandchild, I was not happy.  Something inside me was telling me to call her and ask her to forgive me, difficult as it was. I didn’t know whether she would even listen to me. In the end, when I asked her to forgive me, she was eager to forgive me too.

Some time after this episode, Dorothy was sent to prison. Things were going from bad to worse, and I was so worried about my grandchild’s situation that I began to resent the parents who had brought him into the world into such a situation. Since they were unmarried, the child would be taken into care.

My resentment grew bigger and bigger, and Jesus’s words about forgiveness brought me no peace. I ought to love Dorothy, what ever happened to my grandchild. After several attempts, the Word finally broke through and in a completely different state of mind I went to see her in prison: she gave me a big hug and broke down in tears. I think she felt that I went to love her and accept her as she was.

She spoke to me about her child and asked me if I could look after it. We arranged for legal custody to be passed to my son, and now they both live with me. It seemed like the hundredfold promised by Jesus to whoever looks for his Kingdom, doing his will, and the result of my commitment to love, right to the end.

(J.S. – USA)