Mummy Pastor, Vera, looked into her husband’s eyes and saw that he couldn’t hide his tears. She took Pastor Dave’s hands in hers, pulled him closer to herself, and nudged him towards a kneeling position as she went on hers too. Vera suppressed the stifle about to escape her mouth, and together with Pastor Dave, could only stay silent. In her heart, Vera was saying to the Lord in exhaustion, What else is left to do about Simon?
Just a moment ago, Dave got a call from their son’s school saying he would be suspended again! He had only one more strike, and they might have to withdraw him from the school if he did not behave. Simon, this time, was caught with a pornographic magazine. The last time he was suspended was due to beating up a male student in the senior class. When asked what led to the fight, Simon and the senior would say nothing. The main problem was not even his truancy but the fact that their only son took the downward hill towards rebellion just about a year ago.
Due to the nature of Dave’s ministry, right from the beginning of their marriage, they had decided that while their kids were little, Vera would be a stay-at-home mom, and when the kids were older and could be by themselves, she could get a job as long as her working hours coincided with the kids’ time at school. Their marriage was fourteen years old, and Simon, being their first child of three, had always been a responsible kid. His other siblings, the twins, Shalom and Sharon, were just two years behind him.
Vera only started working again two years ago when the twins clocked ten years. And, God being so good, she got a job as a secretary in a firm, closing at 4 p.m., just when the kids would be done at school. So with that, she was never particularly absent in their lives. God had been so helpful with the kids, such that they were so well-behaved, and they all rarely made mistakes that warranted punishment.
Although they had confessed Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, it still seemed to Vera that they did not fully understand the meaning of what Christ had done for them. So that had been her prayer point, that they would understand the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice, the Father’s love, and who the Holy Spirit could be to them.
Until recently, she had not really noted anything wrong with Simon. He had always been a good example to his sisters and even other kids in church. But with the incident with the senior and many other tales after that, Vera could only intensify her prayers for her son. He had been whipped by Dave, he had been cajoled, he had been counseled with the Word of God, but it all seemed like Simon’s heart had suddenly grown cold, stony, and rebellious.
“Oh God,” Vera prayed, “shine Your light on Simon. Open our eyes, Father, so we can see what is hidden in his heart. Give us Your wisdom, oh Lord, that we may help him out of his distress. Deliver him from the clutch of a rebellious spirit. Help us to love him more in this season of his life and ours, showing it to him the right way. We remember this time, Lord, that You are his Source, and we are only his channels. Take care of Your son, Father. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Dave, still very sad in heart, said a soft Amen, with tears rolling down his face. He had prayed, or rather, Vera had prayed, but he still couldn’t shake his worry off. To himself, not particularly to God, he thought, I know worrying is a sin, but I can’t seem to shake it off.
It feels like I am the reason for this boy’s rebellion. But what can I do when he won’t say something! I don’t even know what to say to him or look him in the face when we pick him up without being overly aggressive.
Do I spank him again? the last time I did, my arm ached and Simon looked more hurt than I have ever seen him and it pierced my soul. Do I slap him? Vera will be very crossed with me if I try that once. We have both agreed never to treat our kids that way. Do I shout? It has not helped in any way so far. What exactly am I feeling about this boy? Anger? Hurt? Fear? Worry?
Or am I more worried about soiling my name and the ministry? No, my son matters more. Hurrggggghhhh!!!!
He heard Vera call him back to reality.
“You look so worried, KD (King David). Please don’t do this. We can’t afford to let the devil win over our son,” Vera encouraged.
Shaking his head while getting on his feet to sit on a sofa, he said, “I feel so uneasy, VeeVee. I started feeling uneasy three weeks ago about Simon. I feel like he knows something, but he will not ask me about it. Sometimes, I find him giving me some dirty kind of look. On two different occasions, he said to me so rudely that I was no saint.
I was too stunned to respond to such a remark, and I knew that whatever reaction I gave would meet deaf ears because it would be out of anger.
“One particular occasion in the church, you had sent him to my office to get you a bottle of water. It was on the day that I preached on Hannah and God dealing with her heart before He gave her Samuel. I remember from that sermon that I emphasized that Samuel was not Hannah’s to keep.”
“After he had gotten the bottle of water, he was about to leave the office when he turned back, looked me straight in the eyes with anger, and said to me, ‘Even if Samuel was not Hannah’s to keep, she didn’t abandon him with Eli without a thought, without looking back!’
“I have been so confused, and I have been wondering if I abandoned anybody. I have prayed, I have begged God for clarity, but He has said nothing to me. My son seems to be slipping away in hatred, and I can’t help him. I don’t even know if it is hatred or if it is anger. Why? I can’t say!”
Without realizing it, he had been pacing around the room and had gotten all sweaty.
‘You remember that day when I said we should all eat out and the girls were excited? When I went to call Simon in his room to dress up and I tried to be all excited around him asking him to pick somewhere, trying to be secretive with him about it so his sisters wouldn’t find out, He shunned me that day. He said, ‘I don’t care, whatever’. I felt so hurt!’
Vera, very loving, walked to him, held his shoulders, and gave him a hug, a very tight one, then said, “Let God figure it out for us. Let’s take a step back and allow Him to shine His light on this darkness before us, David. And I love you, KD.
“Let’s go to his school. We have a son to pick up. Thankfully, I only just started my annual leave and still have three weeks remaining. We will make the most of it concerning Simon.”
Wheeeew!
Is Simon just being a rebellious teenager or there is more to it? Let’s discuss in the comments! And don’t forget—Episode 5 is on the way. You can try the link below to see if it has dropped.
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Checkmate Episode 5
I feel there’s more to it. And loneliness mixed up with evil thoughts from the devil is enough to give birth to unexplainable hatred and anger and even depression.
Parenting has little to nothing to do with experience but solely God’s grace and mercy, understanding that this child is not mine but Gods’ makes it easy.
Oo give us homes built firm upon the Savior 🙏🙏
That is really true. No amount of books and experience can prepare you for each stage of parenting for each child in the family. All we need is to depend on God’s wisdom by His Spirit to guide us. Thank you for your comment.