I am sure you have had experiences that afterwards have caused you to think, "Whew! I never want to go through that again!!" or "I don't know how people do this all the time!" This week has been like that for me, yet I know that I will experience this same situation again in the future. But it does cause me to think more compassionately about those who deal permanently with what I only deal with temporarily: single parenthood.
For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome god who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and shows his love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. Deuteronomy 10:17-18 (NASB)
Throughout the Bible, there rings a call for God's people to speak up for, defend, provide for and support the fatherless. I believe that God's call to support the fatherless is meant to include children who are missing one parent, mother or father, no matter what the reason. With my wife gone for a week, and me starting back to school, I have experienced, to a very small degree some of the problems that a single parent might face. I had to make major adjustments in the way I did things, and it gave me great pause to think.
One of the biggest differences is that my wife and I share different areas of work around the house. This last week, all the work that needed to be done came at my initiative. When either one of us is tired, the other one helps out by picking up a little more than their share of the parenting load. This week, that didn't happen.
With no one there to share the work load, I got more tense this last week...causing trouble for others in ways that I later regretted. I snapped at kids and others. I got frustrated very easily.
Prayer of Commitment:
(NASB stands for the New American Standard Bible (c) 1975 by The Lockman Foundation.)
(c) 1997 by Bob James. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to distribute this article to others without charge as long as this notice is attached. This article may not be distributed commercially either individually or as part of any anthology without the express written consent of the author.
Return to the Christian World View page.
Send comments or questions to the Author.
Go back Bob James's view of life
WARNING: Do not fold, spindle or mutilate, unless you have printed a hard copy for yourself. In that case it is advised that such actions be applied to the hard copy, since such actions might result in damage to your computer screen. Please recycle all electrons. Remember, the electrons you save today may turn on your computer tomorrow.