A few of my friends or friends of friends are going through seperation at the moment. It’s quite a shock as many of them always seemed to be very happy together, and on the face of it they have everything going for them. I understand how tough it is on a relationship if you have small kids, and also if you can’t have kids, and want to, I think this can be a really difficult issue to come to terms with.
This year I’ve tried to arrange lots of breaks for us, so we each respectively get some time on our own and also just time together to hang out. At the weekends I try and spend time on my own with the kids to give my other half a break, and some of my friends who are single mums are often glad of company, and other people are often around to meet up with.
The bible is pretty tough on couples splitting up, so maybe not much comfort if you are in the middle of this, but it comes from Jesus trying to protect vulnerable people. He says to his disciples and the men listening to him, “you think it’s legitimate because you’ve got a piece of paper allowing you to leave your wife, but really you are turning her in a an adultress”. This was because back in those days women couldn’t really survive financially on their own, so they would have had to find a new husband, and someone to help them feed their kids. Being a widow was also pretty tough, and the story of Ruth is a really good Bible chapter to have a look at for postive female role models!
Today I guess we have a responsibility to our friends to be there for them in the middle of painful seperation or divorce, and to help them find the right answers for their family. There don’t seem to be easy answers, but we can all try and be a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on and pray that God is with them during this difficult time.
inspiredinyork 