Last week I had to travel to Nebraska to visit my family. My dad was recently put on hospice and they said he had taken a turn for the worse. I love my dad so much that I immediately started packing for the road trip.
I arrived Saturday evening and although I would have liked to attend my brother’s church the next morning I had to take Sunday to recuperate from the trip.
I promised him I would go with him on Wednesday. So he picked me up on Wednesday night and on the way he got a call from his lawyer with some very upsetting news.
His wife of thirty five years is divorcing him. She is now intent upon trying to get some of the family farm, in addition to some of his net worth. It was clear by the response that he had to his lawyer that the call was very upsetting to him.
I don’t personally know if I would have gone to church after getting a call like that but my brother grabbed his Bible firmly and walked into the church with me.
When the pastor asked if anyone had a prayer request my brother didn’t say a word about the phone call. The pastor’s wife shared that her brother was not doing well in his fight against bone cancer.
The Pastor’s wife, Faith, is one of my favorite women in that small town and I wanted to make sure I talked with her after the sermon. My brother said he also wanted to talk with her. I expected him to mention the phone call that he had received before the service but once again not a word was said about his horrific divorce. He instead asked Faith about her brother and expressed concern over the pain her brother was experiencing.
The more my brother endures this trial of divorce, the more I see him transform into a man of Christ. Sometimes the greatest character is formed through the most heart wrenching of circumstances.
Please pray for my brother and also the brother of his pastor’s wife. They are both enduring tremendous pain: one man is suffering physical pain and the other is suffering tremendous heartache.