by Libby DuPont
Once, I was picking up friends at the airport when they encountered a delay.
I sat parked at the curb, scrolling distractedly on my phone when the man whose unfortunate job it is to tell people to move along approached my car.
Instead of waving me on, as I would have expected, he verbally berated me so severely that my hands were shaking as I pulled out to make my loop back around.
After several laps, my friends appeared at the curb and I pulled up to let them in. The same attendant came up to me again, this time violently insulting my parking and calling me terrible names.
This encounter was as ridiculous as it was disturbing. The intensity of his anger made it clear that his tirade was not about me. I’ve thought about it many times since, such as the time I angrily yelled at my kid for watching YouTube videos instead of cleaning the bathroom.
If I’m honest, the intensity of my reaction wasn’t about distraction or disobedience, it was shame that I often do the same thing. It was fear that I was failing as a mom.
I’ve discovered I’m not alone in this. Much of our sin, especially in family life, is a reaction to our own wounds. Unfortunately, what is not transformed is transferred to others, resulting in sin that gets passed from one generation to the next.
We’re in the thick of Lent, a time when we go into the desert with Jesus to battle our sin. We’ve been fasting to discipline our bodies and giving alms to detach ourselves from money. This is good and necessary. But we aren’t going to win the battle against sin by simply trying harder. We need to let Jesus begin to heal the brokenness that is causing us to sin.
There are many ways to do this, but I want to suggest two. If you are an adult child of divorced or separated parents, consider joining us for our Life-Giving Wounds retreat April 24-26 at Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City, Kansas. This peer-led weekend provides a grace-filled space to explore and invite Jesus into your painful experiences. For more information, go online to: archkck.org/LGW.
One step we can all take to heal is to forgive those who have hurt us. This is easier said than done, but with Jesus, it is possible. For a practical process of forgiveness, go to the website at: forgivenessinstitutekc.com.
This Lent, may we offer our wounded hearts to Jesus, that he might heal us and stop the cycle of sin in our families.
