Leave and Cleave~

Good morning all you citizens of heaven~



Last night Hormone and his lovely wife and Rayray and her lovely beau joined Jorge and me for a celebratory farewell dinner. Jorgie is off to New Mexico this Friday pursuing his baseball dreams, and I wanted one more family meal together because who knows when we will all be together again.


During the meal I wanted to share a few words with my son, whom I love more than my own life, and so I shared an inspirational story etc...and I finished off with this flourish:


"We are all proud of you for your efforts and support you wholeheartedly. But make no mistake. The real kudos goes to your wife because if she did not support you nothing else would matter. She is the one who has to endure the separation and the financial sacrifices, so thank you, Lis, for believing in Hormone."


Did you see what just happened there? I had a full-fledged grown-up moment.


Genesis 2:24 "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."


Other versions say "unites to his wife," "clings to his wife," "bonds with his wife," " be joined with his wife," and "hold fast to his wife."


Before any of that uniting, clinging, bonding, and joining can take place, the young man must LEAVE.


The principle here is that every newly-married couple is now or should be independent from parental meddling. And our heroine from this week's DEVOs realized that not only did she have to cut loose some friends, but she also had to gently, and sometimes not so gently, remind her parents that her husband and her marriage were her priority. You would think this is common sense, but sometimes we parents, overzealous creatures that we are, do more harm than good. We forget that our children and their marriages take precedence over our relationships with them.


You know that expression, "When it rains it pours?" As if there weren't enough going on already, this determined gal found herself dealing with hostile parents, hostile siblings, negative friends, confused in-laws, and all the whispering and speculation from the other parents at her kids' school.


So much pressure.


2 Corinthians 4:8 "We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair."


If this young wife and mom was not driven to despair, then to what, or shall I say, to Whom was she driven?


When you feel as though everything that could go wrong has. When you feel that no matter where you turn there's trouble waiting, read verse 9: "You are never abandoned by God (NLT Version)."


PRAYER:
Dear Lord, Thank You for including those verses in the Bible. You knew we would have seasons in life where it seems that everything that could go wrong has. But You never have nor will You ever abandon us. Keep this life-saving truth ever present in our hearts. In Jesus' name, AMEN~