Before returning to my faith, I suffered from terrible night
terrors. There were nights when I would
have such horrible dreams that I felt paralyzed unable to scream or move to
force myself to wake up. All sorts of
scary things made sleeping anything, but enjoyable. Thus,
when I found a beautiful, vintage, porcelain Mother Mary nightlight during one of
my thrifting adventures, I was thinking what a great find. Mother Mary’s
literal light to keep me safe. Yet, last
week I realized that the nightlight was not meant for me she wanted to bring
peace to someone that is currently having difficulty sleeping. Thus, I gifted her to a woman whose twenty-nine-year
marriage came to an end due to her husband’s infidelity.
It’s funny how God places people in our paths that need our help.
I was early waiting for a class to start and a woman sat next to me. She was with heavy heart and needed someone
to listen. I smiled at her when she sat
next to me, which encouraged her to begin talking to me. She asked me how I was doing and I told her
that I was a little sad because I had lost my dog. We talked about losing pets and then she unveiled
her woes to me. She told me that she
was trying to keep it together because only a month ago she discovered that her
husband had another woman and two little children from this relationship. “He has another family,” she cried. “He’s been involved with her for at least four
years since his kids are three and two.
He travels for work you see and at first he would be gone only a couple
days a week, but lately he had been gone three even four days a week, but I
didn’t think anything of it because we had been married for so long, I trusted
him…” She continued telling me the shattered state of her heart and I was
really not sure what to say, so I just listened. When she was done, she thanked me for not
offering any advice, “you know
everyone has an opinion of what I should do, how I should feel, whether I should
try to salvage my marriage or make him pay… In times like these I don’t want
people’s input- I just want support…”
I don’t recall offering a word of consolation, I didn't have any, but when she
finished and wiped her eyes, she thanked me for listening. She just needed someone to listen without offering any advice. During her narrative she shared that she had
trouble sleeping and hated the nights.
While I don’t have any experienced being betrayed, I do know what is
like to hate the closing of a day.
Anyone who suffers or has suffered from depression can tell you that the
nights are the worst! Being alone in
the darkness with your thoughts, unable to sleep can be one of worst tortures. Thus, I knew that Mother Mary wanted to light
her nights, she didn’t want me to keep her in case one night I might need
her. Mother Mary wanted me to pass her
on to someone who needed her light right now.
So, I placed my nightlight in a small gift bag and gave it to the woman the
following week. She was so happy that
she would no longer go to a dark, empty house- Mother Mary would be waiting for
her to get her through the difficult night.
It’s funny how God will place in our path people who are suffering worse,
others we can help and by helping them we are also helping ourselves.
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