My dad handed me another box as we continued unloading
the moving truck. This was me and Jenny’s seventh move in ten years of
marriage. Thankfully, this move was different from previous moves. We were
finally in it together. After four years of restoration and healing, our
marriage finally felt safe and stable. We were a team.
Most of the previous moves, some across state lines,
were driven by an obsession on my part to pursue a great spiritual calling I
was convinced the Lord had in store for me. Nearly everyone in my life – my
wife, family members, friends, and pastors – tried to warn me against the
reckless decisions I was making as I followed what I thought was the Lord’s
voice from one destination to the next. They saw what it was doing to my character,
my marriage, my career, and my finances. But I was unreachable. Following
the high calling of the Lord requires sacrifice and always evokes family
opposition, I reasoned. This is part of taking up my cross.
Now, reflecting on those wasted years and the trauma
they caused my family, I felt remorse. But the larger emotion I felt was
gratitude for the Lord and the loved ones whose counsel I once confidently
rejected. Had it not been for their prayers and forgiveness, not only would I
likely be divorced and spiritually lost, but I also wouldn’t have these two
little daughters, twenty months and two months old. Even though I was still in
deep debt from all my foolish decisions, I felt like a rich man. I put the
moving box down for a moment, looked at my dad, and said, “I wish I didn’t
wait so long to start a family. I just didn’t know what I was missing.”
About This Book
This is the second book
in a two-book series. The first book, Lessons from a Near Divorce,
covered marriage and sexuality. This second book covers parenthood and
intergenerational relationships.
Much of what I wrote in this book I learned through my
mistakes. For several years, I badly mistreated my wife, rejected counsel from
my parents, in-laws, pastors, and friends, and nearly destroyed my marriage. I
discuss bits and pieces of my testimony throughout. After I repented, through
scripture, the Lord began showing me how He views my marriage, my children, my
parents, and other spiritual influencers in my life. He taught me how the enemy
attacks these relationships and how to overcome him. He taught me principles
for how to protect and nurture them.
In addition, the book addresses several topics not
directly connected to my personal journey, but are nevertheless related to the
overall themes of parenthood and
intergenerational relationships.
All scripture quotations are from the
This book is available free of charge through my
website, www.danielbecklessons.com. If you benefit from this and other
books/papers/articles I’ve written, please consider supporting my work with a
donation through my website. Regardless of whether you donate, thank you
sincerely for taking the time to read my work.