How We Learned to Brave Our Prodigal

I felt the danger and it was taking its toll. As parents, we lived in a constant state of fear over each phone call, each curfew, each ring of the doorbell. It wasn’t just stressful for us, it was also having an impact on our other two children.

It’s one thing when someone threatens your family but it becomes so much worse when that threat comes FROM your family. What are you supposed to do when your own child becomes your “enemy”? He had no idea how he put us all at risk, every single day. As he made foolish, dangerous decisions, he posed a threat to himself and others, which meant he brought that threat home to us.

With each risk he took, our hearts were made more and more vulnerable.

We feared what his future held and what our’s held because we loved him. We wondered if our heartache would get worse before it got better, if it would EVER get better.

Would he do what was right? Would he come home on time? Would he make it home? Would he or his friends finally realize how dangerous their decisions were? Would they understand that sometimes there are no second chances? That consequences can be long-term no matter how sorry they were?

I lost count of how many times my heart broke over him. Oh, how the moments of waiting to hear the next wave of bad news became excruciating.

Is it possible to grieve before a tragedy? I knew it was coming, it was only a matter of time.

Check out the rest of my post on how we braved our prodigal for my friend Crystal Twaddell here . She has a wonderful series on the topic of how we are made to brave that which we may fear the most. She chronicles different testimonies of God equipping His children to their circumstances. You will want to read all of her posts in this series!