God has blessed me with wonderful children, one of whom is gay. Raised in a Christian family he knows the Bible’s teaching and we have spoken on a number of occasions about the conflict between the Christian faith and the gay lifestyle.
Just recently he, very hesitantly and sensitively, broached the subject of the marriage plebiscite with me. He said that it would mean so much to him if his father and I could vote ‘Yes’. He went on to say that he understood if we could not and that this would not change his love for us.
I said to him, “It is because I love you that I voted no because I really don’t believe this is what’s best for you. I don’t want to hurt you…”
“I know, Mum,” he said. “I understand that you and Dad have your beliefs and it doesn’t change that I love you.”
“And we will always love you too…nothing will ever change that,” I responded.
“Actually,” he continued, “I love that we can talk openly about these things. A lot of people I speak with are really amazed when I tell them that I come from a Christian, strongly religious family and that we don’t all hate each other. They ask me how we get on and I tell them we all just love each other.”
And I am continually grateful to God that this is the case. This is an issue that can tear families apart and realistically I have to acknowledge that this is always a possibility for us. I am continually amazed and grateful that our son has not turned away from us.
By God’s grace our son understands our faith and what it means to my husband and I. For I am utterly convinced that the one who made us knows what is best for us. The God I know is a God of love. I trust him with my life; he holds my heart, and at the core of my heart is my love for all my children.
Although I don’t understand the why of everything, I believe that God has made us in all our diversity that we might learn to trust him. This has become my rock and my prayer; it is the still, quiet voice that answered me from the midst of the storm. Do I trust the one who sent his only son to die so that I might live? I trust him with all that I am and all that is most precious to me.
Photo: Danijel Sivinjski, flickr
