Consistent strife between you
Chains you to your past
Takes advantage of your heart
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34
I'll talk more on these later for now here is a excerpt from a little story.
The Eruption
The day is peaceful for her now as she lie near the ocean. The cool breeze delivering familiar calming scents of the sea relaxing her inner being; yet stirring something almost like a longing she couldn’t describe. These past days have been exactly what she needed. Leaving the family drama with the other members of the family to sort out.
Earlier in the week her phone whistled breaking into the
trace she had placed herself in after an argument with her thirty five year old
daughter; it was notice she had received a text. “Great”, she thought as dread washed over her,
“This is not going to be good.” She knew it would be from her sister on the
other coast.
“I told you not to do that, to go easy.”
Her sister wrote, “You
don’t have a relationship with her. Why did you even come out here? Are you happy
now? Proud of yourself? I cannot believe
the damage you have done, I am speechless.”
She felt the anger rise; starting in the pit of her stomach
raising up to her glowing red face. How
dare her sister tell her what to discuss with her daughter! Everything had been fine between them until
her sister had gotten so involved in her daughter’s life. It was their disagreement and was for them to
work out, why couldn’t she respect her enough to stay out of it all?
“I don’t care what you think anymore, just stay out of our lives!” she wrote
back. ”Instead of encouraging my daughter
to work things out with me, you are too concerned with how you will come out
looking in the situation. You have enough damage control to deal with in your
own life and with your daughters! So Piss off!”“Oh that’s nice from the high Christian Mother” her sister replied “Great witness”
“After what you just said to me? You are so self-centered, I am over you, and you have hurt me for the last time.” She wrote
She had been an explosive volcano, the words spewing like
hot lava out of her mind faster than she could type them. Their relationship problems went way back to
childhood; her sister had always known the way to push her buttons and fifty
years later had not forgotten how to get to her. But this was the last time; it
was finally time to bring this to an end.
Her sister had set the
relationship bridge on fire and she had let it burn down.
Having decided that it was okay to say goodbye to toxic
relationships she cut the ties with her sister. It was painful, especially
knowing that during her last visit she had ask her niece to work on the difficult
issues she, her mother and sister were having. Really trying to be supportive to them all she
had encouraged her to realize that it would be worth it in the end. This was
really all that she had wanted from her sister, the same respect. Cutting
her sister out of her life may hurt for a little while and the repercussions
from other family members may be tough to handle, but she knew it was the right
thing to do.
Now more relaxed that she had been in recent years she felt like
a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
The ocean waves and calming sea smells seemed like a prize she had won. Those calming scents that created a longing
deep inside her, she now realized was a peacefulness she had lived with long
ago. A time when she first moved miles away from the family. It was a drama free life she was longing to
get back to, she knew it wouldn’t be perfect and not without its problems but cutting
out the toxic relationships felt like she was on the right path.
