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SaintMarina
12th November 2007, 12:42 PM
It's been over a month since I posted a thread here asking for your prayers regarding the situation with our family and my MIL and GMIL. ( And thank you so much for your prayers for us, we appreciate it more than you know :hug:)

I was going to update you all on what has transpired since then:

My MIL called my husband the evening of Oct. 31st...the first contact that was made since the Oct 6 attack. She gave him an apology and immediately asked if she could come over and give our eldest daughter a Halloween gift. He told her we were planning on going to church that night and he needed to have a sit down talk with her and his grandmother before they do any visiting in our home again.

He went this past Saturday to talk to them and stayed for over 6 hours. He talked to his father right after he arrived. His father said he had no issue with us and how we're raising our family and told my husband he thought we were doing a good job.

Then he talked with his mother. He started the conversation off with the Church. She had basic questions regarding Mary...icons...priests. He told me that part went ok. He also "laid down the law" so to speak, and told them they were going to have to respect what we were doing even if she didn't approve of it if they wanted a relationship with us and their grandchildren. He also told her about taking our daughter to the doctor after they made accusations that I had not taken care of my daughter only for the doctor to look at her, laugh, and say "She looks normal to me!". His mother gave one of her looks and said she was happy she had been given a good bill of health.
He asked her when she was "backing up" his grandmother when she accused me of brainwashing him, she blamed her emotions and never really apologized for it. She just said she wished things wouldn't have been said and she wished she could do it over again. Toward the end of the conversation she defended her mother saying she was old and she says things before she thinks. (This woman to be in her near 70's is pretty active and has a clear mind...she's not in a mental "fog" )
That made my husband angry, he told her that she could not excuse her mother for what she did and couldn't justify it by old age or anything else.

Then he told her he did owe his grandmother an apology for bringing up her father and using an inappropriate tone with her. When his grandmother walked from her house next door she hugged my husband, told him she loved him, and my husband preceded to tell her he loved her too, but wanted her to understand what she did was out of line and wrong. He then said he was sorry for what he said regarding her father and the tone he used. She went on to justify what she said that night and started bringing all that up again! That infuriated my husband. He told her he came over to make things right, and apologize for what he said and all she wanted to do was bring that junk up all over again. He asked her about the accusations thrown at his wife and why she said what she did ....all his grandmother could do was defend what she said. :o My husband was so mad he just walked out before he lost it. His mother ran out after him and started apologizing and defending her mother again. He told her that she needed to tell her mother that if she wants a relationship with him, me, and her GGkids that she needed to respect what we were doing and comply with what we wanted if she wanted to be a part of our lives.
He followed his mother to the door, and she told his grandmother verbatim what my husband said and all she could do was glare at her daughter. After seeing that she's unwilling to reconcile my husband left. :sigh:
His mother wants to reconcile with me...I should be open to this as my priest said 4 weeks ago, but I'd almost rather eat mud to be honest...after seeing that she woudln't really apologize to my husband for accusing me of brainwashing him, seemed to be almost disappointed that my daughter was found to be healthy, and defends her mother for everything she said....I feel MORE relunctant to reconcile with her. I don't trust her. :|

I continue to pray for her and GMIL and for the healing of this relationship.

If you could spare just one prayer for us that would mean more than anything.

Thanks,
Shig

Lukaris
12th November 2007, 12:57 PM
:crosseo:

Ioan cel Nou
12th November 2007, 01:06 PM
I'll certainly pray for you. Your situation (and I just read the old thread which I'd previously missed) sounds similar to ours. In our case it was my mother that was the arch-Protestant loon (and strangely she rarely goes to church either), who criticised my faith, the way we bring up our kids and basically everything about my wife. She even declared at my son's baptism, loudly and in the Church, that we should have had him baptised Protestant (never mind that we're both Orthodox) and when she found out I'd converted said 'I hope you go to Purgatory when you die'! I was so shocked by that (how can you say something like that to your own child?) that I didn't even correct her as to the fact that Purgatory is not an Orthodox belief. I can also remember her complaining about my father not sticking up for her when his aunt had a go (he was basically raised by her) and yet the complaints when I stick up for Gabi rather than take her side are incredible. Of course I'll defend my family - I'm not my father, thankfully.

Anyway, back to that prayer. Lord have mercy on you and your family at this time and may He give you the strength to continue to respond with such restraint at these hurtful provocations.

Doamne miluieste.

James

Mary of Bethany
12th November 2007, 01:06 PM
I think prayer is the best thing for you and your husband. You can't change the rest of the family. Just pray.

:crosseo: :hug:

Mary

Chocolatesa
12th November 2007, 01:19 PM
:crosseo:

Matrona
12th November 2007, 01:59 PM
Lord, have mercy! :crosseo:

RobNJ
12th November 2007, 02:07 PM
:crosseo:

Orthosdoxa
12th November 2007, 02:54 PM
I'm sorry dh's grandma is being such a jerk about this. :(

I wouldn't trust MIL either - she either supports you or she doesn't, and that means not letting her mother attack you and then shrugging it off. Plus she seems to not be sorry for accusing you of brainwashing him. Brother.

I would not let either of them see the children until they are both ready to say, "We don't agree, but we'll respect that you get the say in how these kids are raised and keep our mouths shut about our disagreement."

My mom and MIL are also both "Protestant loons" when it comes to Orthodoxy, but I'm thankful that they know better than to attack us. They just talk about us behind our back, instead. :sigh: But I can ignore it as long as they're not trying to poison the kids. (though my kids are only 15 months old... we'll see what the future holds...)

Hope your situation gets better... :pray:

MariaRegina
12th November 2007, 03:14 PM
My prayers.

We have a similar situation in our families.

Thank goodness my son married into an Orthodox family. At least he has a civil MIL.

Philothei
12th November 2007, 05:08 PM
Prayers

SaintMarina
12th November 2007, 05:10 PM
Thank all of you for your prayers. :hug:

Ioan cel Nou, I can't believe your mother said that to you and your family in Church. I understand how your wife feels. Thank you for praying for me and :hug: for you both.


Mary, I know I can't change them...only God could do that, but your right...prayer is where we can make a difference. I just feel a little pressure from my husband because of the holiday season coming up to reconcile really soon. I don't feel it is time because she, in their talk Sat., let on that she was sorry, but she never mentioned she was sorry she helped her mother in falsely accusing me of brainwashing and negligence. I feel she is more sorry for what it cost her...seeing her g-kids. :( Thanks for your prayers too.

For the record I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea here. I'm not using my kids as pawns. When someone accuses you of being a negligent parent (in my case MIL & GMIL), you don't shrug that off.

SaintMarina
12th November 2007, 05:14 PM
Lukaris, RobNJ,Chocolatesa, Matrona, Aria, and Philothei....
thank you for your prayers!

:hug: to you all.

Shig

SaintMarina
12th November 2007, 05:28 PM
I would not let either of them see the children until they are both ready to say, "We don't agree, but we'll respect that you get the say in how these kids are raised and keep our mouths shut about our disagreement."

Orthodoxa, that's exactly how I feel. His mom truly does not understand because she thought she'd call DH Halloween night and "buy" her way over her with a gift for my 2 yr. old! :sigh: I just want them to take ownership in what they did, be genuine in their apology, and respect us. Her shrugging it off concerns me. How can we reconcile if she can't even apologize to her son for hurting his wife and mother of his children for the false accusations?

I may call my priest on this. :confused:

ThePosterFormerlyKnownAs
12th November 2007, 08:29 PM
One thing to remember is that neither of them attend church regularly but rely on OSAS and seem to think they will get into Heaven on my grandfather's coattails. He was a very pious man, a Baptist minister who really strove to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

Whenever the subject of being "saved" comes up, they will start talking about "Poppy this" and "Poppy that" but never talk about their own personal salvation. Also, I suspect my stepmother is feeding them a line about Orthodoxy. She fancies herself an expert on the Bible and in their ignorance, they don't know any better than to listen to her and she definitely has an agenda.

As, always, Shig, you guys are in my prayers.

gorion
12th November 2007, 08:41 PM
Please accept what I am about to say with the love that it is intended to be delivered with.

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;


The beautiful thing about this teaching is when properly performed it makes the enemy/persecutor have to take a hard look at what they are doing.

For example when you fight back it is easier for the attacker to justify the continuation of the attack. Because the anger and frustration either escalates or at least is maintained.

It is much more difficult for an attacker to continue attacking someone who is showing love in return. It usually has a diffusing effect. It is also hard to complain about a faith that teaches one to love in such a manner.

It is our injured pride that makes this so hard to accomplish. This is one of the struggles we must face on our spiritual path.

I know this isn't easy, it is a rare occurence that I can properly apply this in my life. My mother is less than a fan of Orthodoxy and hurts my feelings all the time.

This isn't to say that there is anything wrong with expressing your displeasure about the dr. visit.

But remember Honor thy Father and Mother was the first command with a promise.

I truly pray for your situation and hope for all of your sakes that love wins out ;)

ThePosterFormerlyKnownAs
12th November 2007, 09:47 PM
Please accept what I am about to say with the love that it is intended to be delivered with.

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;


The beautiful thing about this teaching is when properly performed it makes the enemy/persecutor have to take a hard look at what they are doing.

For example when you fight back it is easier for the attacker to justify the continuation of the attack. Because the anger and frustration either escalates or at least is maintained.

It is much more difficult for an attacker to continue attacking someone who is showing love in return. It usually has a diffusing effect. It is also hard to complain about a faith that teaches one to love in such a manner.

It is our injured pride that makes this so hard to accomplish. This is one of the struggles we must face on our spiritual path.

I know this isn't easy, it is a rare occurence that I can properly apply this in my life. My mother is less than a fan of Orthodoxy and hurts my feelings all the time.

This isn't to say that there is anything wrong with expressing your displeasure about the dr. visit.

But remember Honor thy Father and Mother was the first command with a promise.

I truly pray for your situation and hope for all of your sakes that love wins out ;)

Beautifully put, Gorion. You really learned a lot at Candlekeep. (Sorry, I just had to :D )

Seriously, that is so very true and it was demonstrated so well in Father Arseny. I only read the first book but many of the worst criminals and guards were so moved by his genuine love and humility that they were ashamed when they did bad things to him and were eventually changed by his living witness.

Thekla
13th November 2007, 01:35 AM
my prayers for you and your family -- immediate and extended !

Its always so much harder when your children are "drawn into" a mess :(

in my experience, prayers for the other are essential; with my own loved ones, too. And it requires a bit of "self-slaying" to do this. I do not think you're in the wrong, but prayer can relieve the degree of tension in you. God is good :)