Author Linda Ford & The Cure for Shame
My guest today is Author Linda Ford who has an interesting story for us. Here’s Linda:
Shame was a word that ruled many lives in pioneer times. One was shamed by so many things and bringing shame to your family name or your parents was unthinkable. One of the worst shames was a child conceived before marriage. I know of a woman who found herself in such a position. She was not a Christian at the time of her ‘misfortune.’ She had no choice but to marry the man who was 25 years her senior. They falsified the dates on their marriage certificate and hid the truth as best they could even to the husband delivering the baby at home. Can you imagine how frightening this would have been to a young woman not even out of her teens? She carried a continual burden of shame
When her second child was born mentally handicapped, she believed it was punishment for her sin. But God in His great mercy gave her a Christian nurse who provided the burdened woman with a tiny Gospel of John and told her God loved her and died to cleanse her of her sin. I can’t imagine the relief when she accepted forgiveness and her burden was relieved.
Or was it? I hate to say I don’t think she ever really felt free of her shame. Such was the power of the expectations of that era. And yet she faced her marriage with dignity and raised her family with love and a sense of humor. She clung to the comfort of God’s forgiveness and depended on Him for strength for her days. She loved God’s Word and taught her children to do so as well. She truly showed strength and dignity in the face of societal expectations she’d fallen short of and a less-than-ideal marriage where I expect she often felt trapped.
In my story-Dakota Father-I have a heroine who is as strongly controlled by her sense of duty. Jenny knows she must obey her parents. They only want what’s best for her and they love her. But her heart proves to have a mind of its own. How can she obey her parents and she wants to because of her love for them when her heart calls her to the rugged beauty of the frontier, a little orphan girl and a handsome cowboy? It’s a real quandary for a woman who knows following wise counsel is in her best interests.”–Linda
This is an interesting point. Is there anything that is still considered shameful today? I don’t really like the idea of shame since I live under grace. But shame is important as a step toward making a change for the better. Or is it? What do you think?–Lyn
For more info about Author Linda Ford and her lovely books:
My website is www.lindaford.org
My blog is attached to my website. http://lindaford.org/blog/
