Touch of Heaven
Story by:
Lynn Wehmeyer
Christian Writers
My daughter and I were at odds since she was born, actually. She was
strong-willed before they labeled it. It was hard when she was young
but when she turned thirteen, she turned, period. We didn't see much of
each other after she was sixteen, and when we did it was strained and
difficult. I thought we would not live through her adolescence. We
did. She grew up, into her twenties, thirties, and I despaired of ever
having a relationship with her.
Then one day, when I was driving her to an appointment, she said
something and I gave her some advice, hard advice I knew she would not
like, and the script started running. "Why do you always try to tell
me what to do? You've been doing it all my life. I hate you!"
Any other time I would have been hurt, devastated, crushed. This time,
though, I was calm. I said to her,"You know, this hatred for me is
something you should talk over with a therapist. It's not healthy."
I think we were both shocked. I'd broken the script, hadn't followed
our unspoken rule. I speak, she retorts with anger, I back down and
cry, But this time only silence was between us.
After a while she said, "Well I'm not, always."
The miracle was that God intervened, gave me words that I would not
have said, and forever changed our response to each other. We are now
able to tolerate each other, and even express love for each other. I
could not have reacted this way, so calmly, and she could not have said
what she did if God had not been there to orchestrate the scene.
This was my miracle.
