Families of a Fool

I sunk my head onto the steering wheel in the parking lot as I listened, for the second time in a year, to a mother weeping on the phone as she tells me that her son has been arrested. She’s crying out to God to give her wisdom and to change her son’s heart.

Proverbs 10:1, “A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son, heartache to his mother.”

Foolishness affects the ones who love us the most in this life. An unwise, rash, and peer-pressure induced decision brought this son’s life to a halt as he faces the punishment of the court. But even his family, his siblings and especially his mother now wake every morning to the reality of his foolish choice.

My son’s in jail; my brother is gone for a long time – we don’t know when he can come back.

As I ended the conversation, I asked her what we can do to help. She didn’t ask for meals to be brought or bills to be paid – she begged me for prayers. Prayers that her son follow God again and that He would strengthen her to somehow survive this chapter of life.

What decisions are you making in your life that affect the ones who love you the most? Are the results of your decisions bring job to your parents or bitterness and grief? (See Proverbs 15:20, 17:21, and 17:25)