When she conceived their first child, she expected
that they would have a church wedding before the
child was born, as they had planned. But that
didn’t happen. They had only an agreement—the
only assurance given to her to seal the
relationship. He reasoned out that if he married
her at that time, his petition to immigrate to
Hawaii in the United States of America where his
father lived would be nullified. She accepted his
reason because she thought it would be really
good for both of them, but especially for their kid.
She thought that having a baby would make their
relationship stronger. When she delivered a
healthy baby girl, she was at a loss of words
because of her husband’s compassion, care, and
love. She felt she was the luckiest woman for
having this kind of man in her life. Finally, their
family tree was complete— her husband, their
child and her. She was certain she made the right
decision.
After a couple of months, she conceived again,
their second child. When she delivered another
baby girl, everything changed so quickly. Her
dream turned out to be a nightmare, the worst
nightmare that she could ever imagine. It numbed
her senses.
Her husband had changed a lot. Her “prince
charming” was not the same person she used to
know. He transformed to someone she never
expected to see. They often argued, and she
started thinking that she was the cause of the
problems, that maybe she was doing things wrong
to incite him to anger. Her husband often raised
his voice towards her in the presence of her
mother-in-law, and that hurt her so much. As days
passed, she realized she was being ignored, and
that he was not going to change back into the
loving, caring man that she married. She didn’t
have any allies. Even her mother-in-law, whom
she considered her second mom, had changed. In
the midst of these troubles, she still managed to be
a good wife. She worked hard to be a responsible
wife and mother.
Life wasn’t the same and it was getting
increasingly more difficult. Her paradise that
she dreamed of turned out to be hell. She could
hardly believe it, and tried to persuade herself
that it was all a dream, a very bad dream.
Even with his bad treatment of her, her feelings
towards her husband didn’t change. She still
loved him. She had to persevere to save their
relationship, but she failed. The more she tried,
the more she got hurt. She felt weak and as
though none could help her get rid of this havoc
she was in. Her two kids were the only source of
her strength. She wanted to escape with them,
but how? She didn’t want them to suffer. She
didn’t know what to do. She was afraid to tell her
parents the battle she was fighting. Only God
could help her. Only God could be her refuge.
With her knees bent on the floor, head bowed
down, and eyes closed, she cried out to God. She
laid everything to Him.
God answered her prayer. She found a way to be
freed from her sufferings. One day, she saw with
her own eyes how her husband reprimanded
their eldest child in front of his mother. Instead
of comforting the poor child, she seemed to
enjoy watching the incident, even with the little
one loudly screaming and crying. Worst, she saw
with her own eyes when her husband smashed
his hand against the tiny body of their one year
old daughter. It broke her heart.
She lost her temper. Her blood boiled, her blood
pressure rose, and the lava inside her heart
started to erupt. Her husband and mother-in-law
were both shocked when she suddenly came out
and yelled at them with her voice like a roaring
thunder. They blatantly argued, which attracted
the attention of their neighbors. She burst into
tears when her husband screamed to her in
front of their neighbors that “she may leave and
never come back anymore because
she was worth nothing.” Those words slapped
her.
FAITH HEART MAGAZINE I 26