“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God.” 1 Peter 2:9
I see a little girl skipping home from school in the late afternoon sun. Her
dress is a hand‐me‐down intended for someone two sizes larger. Her shoes are
unpolished, and her socks no longer have elastic around the top. She crosses a
barren yard to reach her destination—a small house badly in need of paint and
repair.
The walls inside the home are patched with brown butcher paper and paint to
conceal where the little girl’s father punched holes with his fist. The father
frequently stumbles home in the middle of the night, smelling of alcohol, then
wakes the little girl with shouts and threats against her mother. Sometimes the
little girl hides from her father.
One day the little girl is driven home from a friend’s birthday party. She
asks to be let out in front of a clean house with a well‐manicured lawn. She
marches up the driveway and waves good‐bye to her friends— but as soon as the
car rounds the corner, she turns and walks several blocks to her real home.
She’s learned to hide her disgrace from others; on the inside, however, she
feels ashamed, depressed, and worthless.
God, however, blesses the little girl. Her mother’s wisdom and love sustain
her. The mother insists that she attend church, where the little girl learns
about Jesus and invites Him into her heart and life. When the little girl grows
up and goes to college, she falls in love with a man who promises to do his best
to make her happy and build her up under God’s direction. And he does.
This story is deeply familiar to me because I was that little girl. Children
who grow up in homes where they are loved and appreciated, where discipline and
accountability are properly balanced with democracy and openness, develop a
healthy sense of self‐worth that usually carries into adulthood. But those of us
who didn’t experience this kind of childhood may need an extra dose of
understanding from our marital partner. No matter what your spouse’s background
is, I pray you’ll provide that support for the little boy or girl you’re married
to.
- Shirley M Dobson
From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James
& Shirley Dobson
Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights
reserved.