The Wall

There was a wall between my father-in-law, Dale, and me. A former Army officer, Dale was used to new projects, but now he was weakened by illness. As his caregiver, he resented my side-lining him from new adventures.

I asked the Lord to help get rid of the wall of resentment separating us.

One morning I tiptoed through the TV room that led to the garage. I spotted Dale, napping in his recliner. I had an errand to run and didn’t want to awaken the sleeping giant. But no sooner had I started the engine than I mistakenly put my truck into reverse and rammed into the wall that bordered the TV room. I could see, through the hole I had made, that Dale was now up on his feet. But when I walked into the TV room, I was in for a big surprise. Instead of exploding with anger, Dale was inspecting the damage. “You have orders to report tomorrow morning at 0800 hours for cleanup and repair,” he said.

The next morning, as my father-in-law and I chatted and worked as a team to patch the wall, our own wall of resentment crumbled.