Do you ever wish you lived on a deserted island?

Like most my family prepares for Christmas to come, doing our Advent daily, learning about the birth of our Precious Savior, decorating our home for the season, Christmas shopping, etc. It’s a time of the year that is hectic but yet special and most enjoyable.

Until………….

Family gets together. My family (my children, husband and I ) live about an hour north of my parents and about 45 minutes north of aunts and cousins. I am blessed to have a large family. But with that at times there is drama.

Christmas Eve we head down to my parents house along with the rest of the family for a nice meal and to just share time together. In conversation this year I mentioned that I would like to have another baby, yes that would be 5 children. I guess my family thinks I came from a different planet or something because the comments they made didn’t stop. Let’s see Christmas Eve these are the comments I heard, ” your not going to have another one”, “then one of my cousin’s wife asked my husband I thought you were going to get fixed?” REALLY??!!!

I had to speak up because those are just a few of the comments that were made, see in the past my family has made comments like, ” you can start your own homeschool group now with all these children” or “your going to be like the Duggars”. So I said, “what my husband and I do is none of anyone’s business and I do not care to discuss birth control with my family!”

So it didn’t stop there, waking up Christmas morning I felt beaten up I didn’t want to go back for round 2. Honestly I wanted to stay in our own home for Christmas Day but I know my family wanted us back south at my cousin’s house so we went. Showing up late because my heart just wasn’t in it. The straw that broke the camels back was when a cousin’s husband who has verbally attacked me in the past about my family and our beliefs attacked me yet again. Knowing from hearing earlier conversations with other family members that I would like another child he couldn’t resist to stick his 2 cents in, ” 5 children, do you know how expensive college is?” I replied yes, the good thing is that colleges favor homeschoolers (I know this because I have actually heard colleges say this before at a homeschool convention) and I think that is our advantage, his response I didn’t know you had a PHD in teaching, I said I don’t, his response – good luck with that.” Now this person is a bully – he has bullied several members of my family throughout the coarse of being married to my cousin, I knew what he wasn’t saying all this to me in his condescending voice because he actually cared, it’s because he was trying to start problems. I should have said to him no I do not have a PHD nor do I consider myself to be a rocket scientist but God has placed homeschooling on my heart and HE will provide. He knows the desires of my heart and if He blesses my husband and I with a 5th child He will provide. I left last night frustrated, bitter and sad. I woke up the same way this morning but God placed it on my heart to pray for him and after I did God’s peace came over me. It’s an amazing thing really.

Members of my family was aware of the comments that this individual had said and told me to approach him even though he came to be with the most of insincere apologies I have ever heard but honestly I had nothing to say to him, I forgave him. BUT I know that when there is ever a family function with him there I will not be there. I will pray for this person continually all week, I will not see him again because they will be going back up north to where they live but I know God will do awesome things. So what drama did you encounter with family this Christmas season? Pray for whoever offended you! Most of all forgve them too!