Not a rival, but a daughter

For quite some time, the relationship with my husband has become difficult due to my mother-in-law. She could not detach herself from her son and considered me the one who had robbed her of his affection. I was considering leaving my husband, the house and the children, when the Word of Life for that month arrived. That commentary was regularly sent by my friends, but I had never read it, even though I considered myself a Christian. However, I was so devastated then and I felt God left so far away. This time, however, I read it, and from the very first line, I felt it spoke to my heart. In tears, I begged for God’s help. Days later, my husband and I joined a meeting for families, as a last resort. In that atmosphere of openness, we found the strength to repeat our “Yes”.

It was the turning point of my life. Then, always with the help of the other couples, I managed to win my mother-in-law’s affection. Over time she started to consider me no longer as a rival but as a daughter. When she fell ill, I was able to assist her with love and devotion, preparing her for the encounter with the Father. (Lucero, Columbia)

Providence

On the morning of December 24, I went to the market to buy food for Christmas Eve’s dinner. But I still had not thought of buying the drinks. Upon reaching home I received a letter from some acquaintances, asking for a loan, which amount corresponded to the sum of the drinks. I consulted my wife and we replied: “We are sending you the sum as a gift; don’t worry about repaying us!” Even if we only had fresh water, we spent a wonderful evening with songs and music. Days later, unexpectedly, we then received a bigger sum than what we had given up. (G.P., Kenya)

At the station

I was about to go to visit my daughter who lives in another city, but upon arriving at the station I realized that because I had stopped to welcome a person, the possibility for obtaining a discount for the elderly had expired. However, after reflecting that it was more worthwhile to have performed an act of love than to get a discounted ticket, I managed to remain calm. But then, while I was at the teller’s, the clerk informed me that for that day, they had planned a sole discounted price for all destinations. The discount turned out to be more than double the amount of discount possible with my pass. (G.M., Italy)

The risk

Sometimes one of our sons would invite a friend who was a bit unreliable to come sleep over at our home. Face with this situation, my husband and I decided to get to know him better. We discovered that he had left his family, and was suffering from a depression. Besides drinking, he was into drugs which he had also offered to our son. Despite our fear, we tried to love him the way the Gospel teaches us to do. Then one day he confided to us that he had stopped taking drugs and now wanted to live like us. ”Your life has a meaning,” he said. With time, besides helping him to go to rehab, we contacted his parents who have started to take care of him. (C.A., Brazil)