love thy neighbor

a long time ago at the church we went to when we first moved to texas, there was this husband and wife with two daughters. they were really nice and the husband even led us in worship from time to time.

the younger girl went off to mexico (or spain, i can’t remember) to live or study abroad. she came back with quite the surprise for her parents… and a broken heart. she had been courted by a man who she had thought loved her, and had gotten pregnant by him only to find out that he actually had a wife. with that, he left her and she made her way back to her home in austin. her parents were gracious and loving, as many people in the church would expect.

the husband, with all smiles, got up to the podium to lead us all in worship – exclaiming what a beautiful day it was and shared with the congregation how he was going to be a grandfather and how excited he was. i can still see his joy.

but, word spread of how his daughter had become pregnant.

the next sunday, the husband was up at the podium again, but not to lead worship. to my astonishment, he somberly asked the church for their forgiveness and apologized if he had offended anyone for his statements the week before. he left the stage and when he sat with his family in the pews, i saw them hugging. and the daughter had tears in her eyes.

apparently, some people in the congregation had issued complaints. and this is what i remembered. not the church’s “love”… but the family’s love, who even after that, still stayed faithful to the church that turned their back on them.