Mom passed away this morning. With her and Laman gone (along with Hoshea being recently killed by one of tribes we are planning to raid), there’s a lot more responsibility on my shoulders to lead the family and take care of the widows. I feel like the marriage relationships in our family are generally stronger and healthier than what I remember the Jews having when we lived there. So I think that adds to the pain that Ashtaroth and Zilpah are experiencing. Then for Ziplah, add on the fact that the man who killed her husband is now in charge of the family, and you can see just how difficult this whole situation is.
If there’s one thing Mom and Dad taught me, it was how a husband and wife are to love one another. I know I haven’t blogged much about their relationship, I’ve probably been more focused on all the negative crap going down. But in the background of all this crap, it was always clear to me that Mom and Dad had the sort of marriage everyone should strive for. Their relationship is the ideal I hope to see reflected in all the relationships within our family—the Lamanites.
This will be my last blog post. I’m going to need more time now to focus on the responsibilities of leading our family, and healing the wounds in our relationships. One of our native friends thinks he spotted Nephi’s camp a couple days ago, and so on top of eking out a living here in this wilderness, we need to be prepared to defend ourselves against Nephi’s traitorous ambitions.
I wish I was sending this blog out on a more positive note, but I have no such peppy messages to offer. Life can be filled with sorrow, and sometimes there’s no balm in Gilead. I hope that sharing our story allows you to be wiser than we were. I’ll probably compile this blog into a book or ebook and I’ll let you know when that’s available.
(I don’t want to make any money off this, so I’ll probably just self-publish the book at cost. Unfortunately, I’ve heard sometimes Amazon forces you to sell the book at above cost. If that’s the case I’ll just find a charity to donate any revenue to.)
Man, I hate Nephi.
If it weren’t for him and Dad, we wouldn’t be in this situation. I’ve been the good guy all along, and look at the fruits.
Pray for us. Adieu.
Lemuel: Glad you can see the good and the bad re your parents.
ReplyDeleteSometimes "What if" games are helpful. What if Lehi and Nephi were right all along? What if that angel talking to you was right? What if you had followed Lehi and Nephi, or better yet followed the voice of God and the angel instead of bickering about Lehi and Nephi? What if God was behind Nephi, because he sure as heck couldn't have designed that boat all by himself: He knew nothing about such. What if God did pick a know it all like Nephi to be leader? What does that say about God, Nephi, you?
It's tough to be wrong, but worse if you don't learn from it. Experience speaking here.
May the Lord bless you and yours.
A friend and brother.