Honor your Father and Mother

I have already shared with you the story of how I had to deal with my unforgivess of my Father (See my first Inner Healing Post) Now I want to share the account of how I gave "honor" to my Mom. At the time this event happened I was studying the things that hinder our prayers. I was reading a book on the topic and one of the items listed as a prayer roadblock was the issue of not honoring our Father and Mother. Of course I was feeling pretty good about myself on this topic. After all, I had forgiven my Dad, I thought I was good. However, I did ask God about this and he stopped me in my tracks. It was like he was waiting for that. He showed me how in many ways I did not respect my Mom. There was clearly an attitude of dishonor that was there. I was very sad about this revelation. Once again this attitude was below the surface of my conscious thoughts. I confessed it to God and asked His forgiveness. It was not as cathartic as it was with my Dad, but there was a significant release after I confessed and repented.

Of course I asked God the next question: Is there anything else I need to do? He said "You must honor her" I knew what he meant. I knew I needed to tell her to her face. As it turned out Mothers day was only a few days away and we were going to her house. The timing was perfect. I was nervous about doing it, but I knew this needed to happen. While we were there I kneeled down next to her chair (She doesn't move too well) and asked her forgiveness for not honoring her the way I should have as my Mother. I told her that she was a good Mom. I recounted some of the wonderful things she had done for me growing up. She always took care of me. She was always around to make dinner and my school lunches (which were always the best at my lunch table)

Even though she was not a touchy feeley kind of person I rembered that when I was sick she would hold a cool wash cloth on my head and how good that felt. She always made sure that I had ginger ale by my bed when I had an upset stomache. Whenever I really needed money for something she would make sure I had it. (we didnt have much of that). She gave so much of herself to the family (and many others) She truly was a good Mom.

These words of affirmation were what she needed to hear. They went right to her heart. I think that she thought that she was not a good Mom because most of her kids did not make good choices. But it was not her fault. During this whole time my Brother and daughter were in the room to encourage her. I also called my Sister so that she could participate via speakerphone.

After the honoring part, I knew we were supposed to pray for her and we did this as a family. It was a really beautiful event and I thanked God for His grace and guidance and for giving me the courage to love.

While I personally experienced some healing and breakthrough because of this event I think that there was some healing of my Mom and the family too. This is God's desire for all of us. To bring life and joy and freedom into all our relationships!