{"id":2104,"date":"2022-09-17T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-17T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homewithgraceandjoy.com\/?p=2104"},"modified":"2023-05-06T22:16:59","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T03:16:59","slug":"my-mother-in-law-by-jay-sikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homewithgraceandjoy.com\/2022\/09\/17\/my-mother-in-law-by-jay-sikes\/","title":{"rendered":"My Mother-In-Law (By Jay Sikes)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Saturday Morning Devotional<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Joy,
Joy<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

My Mother-In-Law<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How many mothers-in-law does it take to ruin a marriage? Just one \u2013 mine!\u00a0 (NOT! \u2013 please continue reading.) My mother-in-law does not fit the typical stereotype.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many mother-in-law jokes out there.  I hope I\u2019m correct in saying there are more good mothers-in-law than bad.  However, I couldn\u2019t tell you.  I\u2019ve had only one mother-in-law in my life, and she has been for 37.5 years and counting.  How many does it take to ruin a marriage?  I can\u2019t answer that question either.  My one mother-in-law has done nothing other than bring great value to my life and my marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Mother-in-Law’s Character<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hopefully you read this past Wednesday\u2019s post.\u00a0 If so, then you know Joy, my mother-in-law, had major back surgery.\u00a0 I normally would have been there, but I was preaching a friend\u2019s funeral.\u00a0 His oldest son is a very good friend of mine, and I wanted and needed to be there for him and his family.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t even consider bailing on this family during their time of grief and celebration.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know what you\u2019re thinking\u2026some kind of son-in-law you are!\u00a0 However, I didn\u2019t consider it because I knew Joy would not have heard of it!\u00a0 She would have insisted I be there for Mike, Shane, and their family.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t even need to discuss it with Joy because I know her.\u00a0 Experience has given me answers about stuff like that many times over the years.\u00a0 Others are always first in Joy\u2019s life.\u00a0 How could they not be and Joy be a headliner in the name of this website?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you aren\u2019t already aware, let me inform you that surgical times are at best an estimate.  However, in the medical field, pretty much anything can interfere with the estimated surgical schedule, i.e. complications, an emergency comes in, or even a beautiful morning drawing the surgeon out for a quick 9 holes of golf (only teasing on the golf, I think!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joy\u2019s surgery was indeed moved out a bit.  The surgery was a success – thanks for the prayers.  However, when she got into her room, she was in tremendous pain.  Family had been told there would be no need for anyone to stay the night with Joy because the surgery was late in the day, and she would be out from the pain meds.  However, family would not leave until the pain was under control, which was about 2 hours later.  There was concern about leaving her by herself, but medical staff said there was no need.  Family left at 10 PM.  All should be well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her Pain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Should be and fact are not always the same.  Unfortunately, that was the case for Joy.  She was in pain all night.  In fact, it was so bad she had to scream out to get medical staff to come help her.  Joy may be short, but her pain level is very tall, so we know it was bad!  When she finally did get help, the nurse treated her very rudely.  I\u2019m not telling you this to bang on another individual but to help you understand more about Joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now my sister-in-law and I have some very common ways.\u00a0 We are more apt to say, \u201cShow me who; we\u2019ll see to it that this doesn\u2019t happen again!\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ll admit it, that\u2019s how I felt Thursday morning, as did Kristie (sis-n-law).\u00a0 Of course the employee was already gone, which I\u2019m sure was good.\u00a0 However, someone came in to do somewhat of a survey of how things went through the night.\u00a0 So Kristie began to share, and she (as I would\u2019ve) was laying out the harsh details.\u00a0 Yet Kristie kept getting interrupted\u2026by Joy!\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joy was saying things like, \u201cWe don\u2019t know what she may be going through. She may have had a bad day. There may be things she is struggling with in her personal life\u2026etc.\u201d\u00a0 Kristie nor myself were surprised.\u00a0 Joy is the advocate for others, regardless of the situation.\u00a0 If, which is not very often, she gets upset, it doesn\u2019t take long for the remorse to show up.\u00a0 That\u2019s our Joy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of Her Fineness:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n