In Love with my In-Laws

Anybody who knows me well enough knows that one of my bizarre requirements for Mr. Right is that he should be an ORPHAN. Yup, you read it, right. I want a guy with zero affiliations with any of his family members. I wanted God to spare me from the whole meet-the-parents thing. Blame it I guess on my weaning on Cinderella but I really dread the idea of having another set of mother and sisters to deal with. There were a lot of reasons why I didn’t want to have In-Laws. First of all, I don’t even know how to deal with my own mother, how much more with someone else’s? Second, my own sisters are already a handful all by themselves. Third, I was so conscious with the fact that I do not generally fit any mother’s criteria of an ideal girl for their hijo.

Well, anybody who was there at my wedding knows that I got married to a man whose family had quite some trouble letting him go. Gaining their favor was that ballgame I didn’t want to play. We had a very rough start but with God’s grace we managed to get on the road and endured some humps and bumps. His family was eyeing someone else for him at that time which caused the entire ruckus.

In the beginning, especially during the course of the engagement, I admit to have had some difficulty reaching out to my husband’s sisters. There was an undeniable tug-of-war for Joseph’s attention. They also had very strong opinions about me. Honestly, I don’t blame them for feeling a bit jealous over me. They’ve had their kuya all their life and then suddenly this “girl” gets to hold him in the palm of her hand. On the other hand, I also could not understand why they can’t just be happy for their brother. All in all, I guess it was tough for both sides. It was hard for them to swallow the bitter pill of their brother’s departure from home and challenging for me to love the people who have hurt me before.

I could not imagine how everything would come together by our own efforts. The restoration of Joseph’s ties with his family and church, and the blossoming of my relationships with these people were all a miracle. Now, I am blessed to have my mother-in-law and my sisters-in-law, as well as Joseph’s extended family in the church. Last Saturday, it was my sister-in-law Queenie’s birthday and I found it in my heart to bake her some cupcakes. (FOR ORDERS CLICK HERE) Baking for someone is really something very significant for me. I even surprised myself that I felt compelled to do this sweet thing for her. And then it dawned on me that I have been finally cleansed of any resentment towards my new family. Praise God!

So far, my sisters-in-law and I are fine. I’ve noticed that they have become a lot less clingy to their brother. I am happy that they are maturing into independent but God-dependent women. I am actually excited to get to know them better. Having my real sisters away from me (Marla’s in Davao while Cindy’s in New York), I know God intended to put Queenie, ShaSha and even Ate Sherry in my life to fulfill my sister duties in another way. I am praying that God will fill me with the wisdom and the heart to be the Ate that they never had but would love to have.

Proverbs 17:9
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. (NLT)