The Johnsons always spent there Christmas holiday in their cabin up in the country side, it was an 8 bedroom cabin built by Sarah's father in the 80's, she inherited it after he passed on.
This year's celebration was going to take a weird twist because Sarah was hiding something from her husband. For about 8 years of their marriage she had remained the breadwinner, providing for everyone's needs, but she deeply hated that fact.
Her husband Johnny, lost his job as a contractor about 9 years ago and since then, he had never enrolled for any job. And this burdened his wife Sarah, she carried the whole family on her shoulders. But that had to stop.
Mr Jonny was just an introvert, he was too calm and lazy to get what he wanted in life, he knew his wife was no longer happy, but he never tried to make it right, he just hated her for her own resentment towards his idleness.
But it was the Christmas season, a time of love and forgiveness.
It was Christmas eve and the children had just finished unwrapping their gifts, they were so excited they played for hours before finally going to bed.
" I have to tell him now", Sarah thought as she and Jonny sipped wine close to the fireplace.
" Am having an affair", she said without looking at his eyes, " And I think I want a divorce".
Jonny was so surprised to hear those words from her mouth, he never for once suspected that his wife was having an affair. " what do you mean?", " and I hope you are just joking about the divorce", Johnny asked looking so confused.
When Sarah finally looked at her husband, she saw something she had never seen before. for the first time in their marriage, he looked helpless.
" Am sick and tired of you sitting and watching while I carry the whole family's burden on my neck, you are the head of the family but you don't act like one", " I am done!".
Jonny was so confused, he looked at his wife with amazement, " why then did you wait for the holidays before telling me? ", " I just didn't know how to , but I have now and that's all that matters", Sarah replied with anger in her voice.
For some minutes Jonny just sat there looking at his wife, he was so angry and scared at the same time, for years he didn't have to think about providing for the family because she was there, but today all was coming to an end.
He just stood up, picked his car keys and walked out of the cabin.
When he left, tears rolled down Sarah's face. She was about to lose her marriage , but at the same time it was worth it because she had been suffering in silence for a long time.
Although Jonny dashed out of the house by midnight , he returned early in the morning to prevent the children from suspecting anything.
After the Christmas holidays, towards new year when they were already back in the city Sarah found a counselor, one that could help them through their problems.
Deep down she didn't want to lose her husband, she still loved him, but she was just tired.
They sat in front of Dr Macdonald for their first session, a discernment counselor that helped couples decide whether to continue with their relationship or get a divorce.
They were going to have just five sessions and after that a decision of whether to go ahead with the divorce will be made.
Sarah wanted the divorce but at the same time she was scared that it would destroy her family, Jonny of course wanted to stay in the marriage but he just lacked the inspiration to make it right.
" Are you both willing and able to keep trying till this case is resolved?"yes, they both said.
For three sessions they discussed Sarah's affair. And how it all started. Upon hearing all the details, Johnny was heart broken. He remembered one morning when his wife was acting weird while preparing for work, he spied on her phone and saw strange texts from an unknown contact, but he never suspected her.
But whenever Dr Mcdonald asked those questions, " Are you both willing to continue with this?", they both said yes.
In the fourth session, they discussed about Johnny's incompetence in the marriage, and how it was linked to his own father's lazyness in taking care of his family. They talked about what the divorce would do to their kids, they both talked about how they resented each other's presence, they would occasionally drive the children to school in separate cars just to avoid each other's company.
But they kept on coming back to the sessions, again and again.
After the fourth session it was quite clear that they couldn't keep the marriage going, but if they survived the fifth session then they would have to put their differences aside and forgive each other.
"If we must come back together, then I would have to forgive her for cheating on me", Johnny said in the last session, " And she has to also forgive me for throwing away my responsibilities".
To accept her husband's forgiveness, Sarah had to also forgive herself, for she had done a shameful thing by breaking her wedding vows. "I must be incapable of being a good wife", she said.
With time, forgiveness crept in, but it was a very slow and gradual process as they both threw their pride away and showed remorse for everything they did. Johnny learned how to express his feelings more and Sarah learned how to tolerate and forgive.
They would then have to work with Dr Mcdonald for about 8-9 months, trying to cement the relationship till they felt they needed no help again. They had pulled the marriage from the depths of the ocean, and it was on a clear course to redemption.
When they got to the last session after 9 months, Dr Macdonald asked them the same question, but this time they knew the answer.
THE END….
MERRY CHRISTMAS… @ MILEZOFPLAY.
