On a Brighter Note ...

My In-Laws pulled out around 2pm on Sunday, and I must admit I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. The balance of tranquility was being restored in my home and for the first time in days I felt that could let my hair down and relax. It was a tangibly physical feeling, and - yes - I reveled in it.

It's also true that I ate my big, heaping bowl of "stew of ugliness", and I must admit it gave me heartburn. But a couple of large Rolaid-prayers and a gallon liquid-grace, and I got things under control.

Please understand that I love my In-Laws BIG TIME, and appreciate their acceptance of me into the family. It's more that I don't like what I turn into when my mother-in-law is around. A very agitated side of me surfaces. I want to correct, if not muzzle, what comes out of her mouth. I need to tell her she's wrong - all the time.

I confess that I am the person in the wrong here. I am not honouring of my mother and father (in-law). I must remember the grace and mercy that the Lord pours on me abundantly - daily.

The majority of the stress came to a head on Saturday morning when I confronted (in love) my M-I-L on behaviour she was giving us (hubby & I) that morning. I won't go into it, other that to say - we hugged and made up.

I am NOT, however, in a rush to have them visit again anytime soon. And Lord help me - if they want to come and stay over on the next statutory/long weekend (it's been two in a row now), or any long weekends to come in 2009. And as much as my hubby loves his parents - neither is he in a wishful stance for the next sleep-over. Neither one of us can handle being around both in-laws when they begin to lay the guilt trips on each other. But that's a whole other story.

For now, I/we are breathing easier, sleeping better, and loving the parents from a distance.