Читать книгу Seeds of the Bitter Harvest - John Sheppard - Страница 3

I’m from a middle class, Caucasian family and married into the same during the 1970’s. Most of the similarities between the two families end there. Perhaps the only other common thread my parents and my wife’s parents shared was they loved their children imperfectly. On that point, all parents are subject to the same flaw.

My parents and my in-laws handled money differently. Their responses to family stress and overall world view wasn’t the same. Their priorities in life weren’t even close. To say that my in-laws and I faced numerous obstacles in our relationship over the years would be a vast understatement.

Given that information, the reader can understand how surprised I was when I woke up one morning and discovered my in-laws had become my friends. Somehow the relationship had morphed from something forged by a marriage certificate into a deep, abiding love.

Like all genuine relationships, we still hit a rough patch every now and then. But those times are overwhelmed by the strength of a bond built over the years. My in-laws, Ken and Esther Bateman, are more often than not simply referred to by me just as Mom and Dad.

I dedicate Seeds of the Bitter Harvest to Ken and Esther because of the love they have shown me over the years. The seeds they have planted in me have been those of faithfulness and devotion, which have yielded a harvest in my grateful heart.