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April, 2003

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Day of Encouragement in England Report

A BOY'S BROKEN HEART
I witnessed the death of a little boy's dream for his family.
BY DAVID DUNN

This story illustrates what covenant keepers already know: Divorce is especially hard on children. Pray for the boy in this story (now nearly 20) and all children who experience divorce in their families. Used by permission.

By the sovereign will of God, I was present to observe a private, painful bit of history in the life of one unknown Oklahoma family thirteen years ago. Today, the memory of that emotional event remains with me in vivid detail.

In the spring of 1990, several people and I entered an elevator for what we thought would be a routine, uneventful trip between floors in the Oklahoma County Office Building in downtown Oklahoma City. We couldn't have been more wrong.

As the old elevator slowly moved, the cries of a small child broke the usual silence of this situation. A little blond-haired, blue-eyed boy, about 5 or 6 years old, was talking with his mother as streams of big tears rolled down his cheeks. His young mother knelt beside him at his level, trying unsuccessfully to comfort the little boy.

Although uncomfortable with the strong show of emotion, people on the elevator immediately became transfixed by the mother and her young son, as their conversation developed before us. From their words, it was evident that the mother and child had just left a divorce hearing in the County Courthouse. Apparently, the young mother's divorce had just been finalized by judicial decree.

Following this life-altering turn of events, the little boy was pleading with his mother for a return to what he perceived as a normal two-parent family. "But Mommy, I want Daddy to live with us again, so we can be a family," the youngster cried out. The mother explained that her husband wouldn't be able to do that now that the divorce decree was final.

“I'm sorry, honey. Your Daddy has a new family of his own now," the mother told her tearful son. "Daddy is going to live with his other family, although you must understand that he loves you very much. Mommy loves you too; that will never change. You and I are going to be a family now. That's what a divorce means. I'll take care of you. And don't worry, sweetheart, you'll still see your Daddy very often. I promise you that. Everything will be all right."

The tearful lad continued pleading with his mother, telling her (and us) that the new scenario wasn't good enough for him. He wanted his mommy and daddy to live together as one family once again. Despite the young mother's best efforts at physical and verbal comfort, the little fellow just wouldn't be comforted. He slumped to the elevator floor in tears, expressing himself partly in legitimate, understandable emotion and partly in temper tantrum. He just didn't understand about the world of grown-ups, divorce, judges, and new families. All he knew was that he wanted his family to be whole—together once again.

Horror-stricken by the unaccustomed display of such personal and intense pain, everyone on that elevator turned their faces away from that mother and child. It was too private a moment for us to endure. As the elevator came to a stop on the first floor, we all resumed our lives, lost in our private thoughts. But the deep, loud sobs of that little boy continued unabated. In my last glimpse, his mother's arms were holding him, her own tears flowing freely.

I walked out of the building, praying for that mother and son although I have never seen them again. On that day, I decided to do something constructive about disintegrating families in Oklahoma. Less than two years later, I was privileged to join Oklahoma Family Policy council on a full-time basis.

I am convinced that God touched my life with that holy experience. Interestingly, my wife, Denise, and I—both brunettes—have five children, but only one son—a blond-haired, blue-eyed little boy, Jonathan. In our happy home, by God's grace and design, Jonathan is a daily reminder that other Oklahoma kids are not so fortunate.

Originally published in The Oklahoma Citizen

JERICHO WALLS
BY KAREE TATHAM, COVENANT KEEPERS GROUP LEADER

The walls came tumbling down. The Israelite people were told to do a very strange thing in the face of their enemies. God instructed them to march around the city of Jericho. They were told to do it again for the next six days. Can you imagine their humiliation as they heard the inhabitants of Jericho laughing at them? Nowhere else in recorded history has there ever been such a battle plan, not before or since.

On the seventh day they were told to march around the city seven times and to shout loudly when they heard the priests sound the trumpets. At that moment the walls came tumbling down and Jericho was completely destroyed per God's instructions.

The only people spared were the harlot Rahab and her family members inside her home at the time of the attack. She had protected and hidden the two spies Joshua had sent into Jericho prior to the assault. God blessed her and her family because of what she had done to protect the spies.

Two lessons can be gleaned from the scriptural account in Joshua (Chapters 2, 3 and 6). One is that God keeps His promises. Rahab and her family members were spared. God appreciated what she did and blessed her. She eventually married into the Israelite family and became the mother of Boaz who married the widow Ruth. Ruth became the great-grandmother of David.

How startling a thought that in the lineage of Jesus is the harlot Rahab. When God says He forgives us our sins, He forgives. We are made new, completely cleansed.

The second point is that God blesses obedience. God had the Israelite people perform His special marching orders as a means to test their zeal for Him and to impress upon them that submission to His directives was the key to their victory. Their march around the city of Jericho was an act of faith. The walls came tumbling down because they followed God's marching orders fully and zealously.

Sometimes it is difficult to see God's hand in our situations, but we can put our trust and faith in Him. We need to realize that God is in control. He has a plan and His way is the only way.

When God has instilled in you the desire to stand, then your only way to see victory is by your obedience. Covenant keepers have been misunderstood and ridiculed by those not hearing this message from God, but I do know that we all will reap the rewards if we do not grow faint. God will bless our obedience. He is faithful and keeps His promises.

We all made a vow before God on our wedding day. Now we are called upon to be obedient to those vows. The world may laugh at us, but not for long. God will restore our broken marriages.

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Divorce, Be Cast Into The Sea
In 2003!