ALETHEIA Page 3
Pain Of Divorce
At KC83
by Jamie Johnson
KC-83 was a tremendous
experience, an experience I
''vill never forget simply
because of all I learned, the
visions I saw and the convic-
bons Christ left with me
While I was there. There is
rio doubt that The Time is
^ow. No longer can we
Christians wait. The
darkness in the world is
great; we must look to God
and let our lights shine.
God used every speaker
fhere in some way to speak
to all of our hearts. The
Week spent in KC was the
greatest learning ex
perience I have had yet.
Going back to speakers.
Cod used Howard Hen
dricks to speak to my heart
Piore than any other
speaker. He said it like the
^ord says it, “God will be
fdithful to you if you are wili
ng to be faithful to him.”
Cur attitudes should be
9ood, we must be obedient
PPd then committed, thus
Allowing the Holy Spirit to
“0 wondrous things,
'berefore when we confess
every sin and study the
^prd daily we are being
^Pjthful, obedient and com-
P^itted. We should be more
ppncerned about respon-
^'biiities and the world sup
plies reputation. I think we
should be concerned about
God’s responsibilities He
has given us. As Howard
Hendricks said, “We should
be more sensitive to what
God thinks than what man
thinks.”
While in KC we had a mot
to which to me said that no
matter how tough, if we are
faithful to God, He will pull
us through. The motto is
this, “You can’t make it
tough enough for me to
complain.”
Now that I am back at
Montreat my goals are
before me. God gave me a
vision and that vision was
that here at Montreat we can
have our own KC-83. We can
have Montreat ’84, God is
here at Montreat just like He
was at KC. This semester
and year can be the best
ever for Montreat-Anderson
College and it will be if we
will be faithfui.
Please be obedient, com
mitted and faithful to God
and God will be faithful to
you in return. Believe me
God is real in my life and I
thank God for sending
Jesus Christ to die for me. If
you don’t know Jesus per
sonally please ask some
one, even ask me. I would
love to share what Jesus
has for you.
and received
...in my Father’s house.
— Sharon Kimberly Howell
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My parents divorced when
I was in the first grade. As a
first grader, I could hardly
understand why my parents
fought and argued. The
reasons behind my parent’s
divorce are stili not totally
clear to me, but I know
enough of the divorce to
make me cringe when I think
of it and the anguish it has
caused.
I had a hard time under
standing why my father was
unhappy, and why he was
leaving — now I know. My
father had an affair with my
mother’s so cailed “best-
friend.” Of course, my
mother could not tell my
brother and me that dad was
sleeping with another
woman, we would not under
stand. We were told that
daddy would be leaving and
not coming back. An ab
solute void was left in my
life. No one can imagine the
feelings of rejection, guilt,
and pain that I have ex
perienced as a child from a
broken home.
When my parents first got
the divorce, I had a fear of
being rejected. I already felt
that my father rejected me,
and I was not sure about my
mother’s feelings. The
reason I was scared that my^
mother would also leave
was because of the after-
math of a fight my parents
had. Dad had come over to
pick up some of his belong
ings, leaving with my
brother — “his” son.
Mother was hysterical. I
remember standing on the
porch while she was scream
ing at dad. The next thing I
knew, mom had slammed
and locked the door, with
me still standing outside.
Dishes started crashing
against the door, and tears
started rolling down my
face. There I was, a six year
old child, alone with no one
to turn to. I thought the
dishes were being thrown at
me, not as a symbol of my
mother’s anger towards my
father. It took a while to
regain my confidence in
adults: all adults, even my
mother. I had to get over the
fear of being left by my
mother; and my mother had
a very hard task persuading
two young, impressionable
children that she too was
not going to leave them.
Some fights left me with
feelings of rejection, but
others left me with feelings
of guilt. I do not remember
all the fights, but one vividly
stays in my mind. One night
my brother and I heard a
great deal of screaming.
Mom and dad were arguing,
and dad hit mom. Because
of the force of the blow,
mom fell and hit her head on
the stereo. I do not remem
ber my immediate reaction,
but my immediate thoughts
blamed the argument on my
brother and me. I could not
help but think that if my
brother and I were not here,
mom and dad would not be
fighting. I experienced a
great deal of guilt during the
early years of the divorce. I
was quite fortunate because
my mother made it clear to
me that the divorce was not
caused by my brother and
me, but because of my
parents. So much love was
exemplefied toward my
brother and me, that all feel
ings of guilt slowly disap
peared.
Though I experienced a
great deal of pain during the
early years of the divorce, I
am still not free from it all.
Like ail families, mine had
to readjust after the divorce.
The readjustment stage it
self was a pain. The anxiety
of explaining what happen
ed, and the rebuilding of my
family were the two hardest
experiences to get through.
Now, I feel the pains of
choosing the parent to live
with, who to spend holidays
with, and where the money
will come from. These may
seem like smaii worries to
most, but a great deal of
hard feelings are caused
when children have to
choose parents — I know, I
had and still have to choose.
The financial situation is
the hardest pain to under
stand and deal with. Living
in a single parent home with
no child support is difficult
when two children are in col
lege. I live very comfortably,
but my mother always feels
she does not ever “do
enough.”
I have accepted my family
situation, and made the best
of it I possibly could. I only
wish others could accept
the situation as easily as I
do. Sure, people are going
to feel “sorry” for me, but do
not pity me, or any child
from a broken home. Ad
mire our courage and
strength to carry on. I
realize that all children do
not ever grow to accept their
situation, but most do.
Children from broken homes
are just as normal as
children from “real”
families, and we should be
treated as normal kids.
There was a purpose for
my parent’s divorce. Even
though I experienced a great
deal of heartache during the
divorce, I have benefited
from it in many ways. I had
to grow up fast due to my
parent’s divorce, and God
watched me the whole way.
Because of the divorce, I
gained a best friend — my
mother. The divorce has
brought my mother and me
extremely close. I some
times wonder if we would be
as close if my parents were
still married. My parents are
divorced though, they have
been for almost thirteen
years. Frankly, I can not im
agine it any other way.