Do you like your in-laws? I could never make “mother-in-law" jokes because Melanie’s mom, Jo Catherine Freeman was such a wonderful person. She could be fierce protecting her family. But once you were in the family, you were in. I upset her one Christmas by telling her that Melanie and I would be moving overseas as missionaries. The sun went down early that day.
Esau married outside the faith. This troubled Isaac and Rebekah. True, their daughters-in-law were Hittites. After Abraham worked so hard to find a spouse for Isaac, Esau stepped outside the family tradition. The problem was the Hittites did not know or worship the Lord. This meant that Esau’s kids might not be raised in the faith of Abraham and Sarah. Esau might have married Leah if he had sought the Lord.
The morning after my untimely announcement about becoming missionaries to Budapest, Hungary, Melanie’s mom met me at the breakfast table as I was headed out to run. “Sit down,” she told me. I did. “Do you believe in prayer?” she asked. “I do,” I answered. “Then you will not be taking my daughter to the mission field. I have prayed.” Wisely, I did not respond.
A few years later, a couple ahead of us in the queue filled the position in Hungary. A church north of Austin called us to serve with them. We lived closer to Melanie’s parents than we had before. Jo never mentioned it. Neither did I. But when we came to Tallowood, we went with our students and children to Budapest on a mission trip. Later, our younger son married a girl whose mother’s family still lives in Hungary. We never know how God will work. But I came to believe in my mother-in-law’s prayer life. It makes me want to pray, too.
