O
oldburkes
Guest
I’ll try to keep this brief. I married my wife 31 years ago. She is a cousin to my brother’s wife. I never regretted one moment, because I love her as much today as I did the day we married.
We were married by a Justice of the Peace in the Texas town we were both born in, and moved the next day to her place of residence in Ohio, where she had moved to be close to her parents and other family. They are a hispanic family, and her grandparents had followed migrant work to the Midwest, and settled there.
Agreed from the beginning, and true to my promise, I very quickly coverted to Catholicism, after she finalized her annulment to her only previous marriage, which had lasted just a few months when she was very young. I realize that this was not the proper way to enter this marriage, and we both confessed and did penance, and had the rings blessed in a ceremony performed by our parish priest.
After many years of the normal ups and downs, and the regretable use of contraception, even to the point of her having contaceptive surgery after our second child (she had a daughter that I adopted, and I’ve always considered her my own) from our marriage.
About 7 years ago, I came back to Texas to be with my ailing mother and help to keep her in her home as long as possible. She passed 4 years ago, and my son has come to live with me in the home she left us. My wife has a very good job in Ohio, with thirty some years at a major soup company. I was a bricklayer and had worked in 4 states, spent 5 years in the Union, and was self employed 3 different times, not to mention countless stints for other contractors, including my brother.
4 years ago, due to lack of work in masonry, I went to work at WalMart, and after 2 1/2 years there, I came to be a service employee (janitor) at a major candy factory.
Now to the question.
I’m kinda stuck here for now, my son and I. He has a learning disability and is on SSI, so I’m struggling to keep the home here, etc.I had a powerful reconversion 4 years ago, and have been faithfully practicing my faith in all areas, including chastity and fidelity, which I discovered, was not as challenging as I expected with God’s help. I have never been unfaithful. In fact, my wife is the only one I ever slept with.
Am I doing this right? Given the circumstances? At confession, when I told the priest my situation, and that I was chaste, and I repented for my use of contraception, he didn’t really deal with that one way or the other, but I feel like this period of my life is part of my penance for allowing that to happen.
Should I be doing all I can to get back to Ohio? or just keep following the Lord’s lead like I feel like I have been?
Sorry for writing a book here.
We were married by a Justice of the Peace in the Texas town we were both born in, and moved the next day to her place of residence in Ohio, where she had moved to be close to her parents and other family. They are a hispanic family, and her grandparents had followed migrant work to the Midwest, and settled there.
Agreed from the beginning, and true to my promise, I very quickly coverted to Catholicism, after she finalized her annulment to her only previous marriage, which had lasted just a few months when she was very young. I realize that this was not the proper way to enter this marriage, and we both confessed and did penance, and had the rings blessed in a ceremony performed by our parish priest.
After many years of the normal ups and downs, and the regretable use of contraception, even to the point of her having contaceptive surgery after our second child (she had a daughter that I adopted, and I’ve always considered her my own) from our marriage.
About 7 years ago, I came back to Texas to be with my ailing mother and help to keep her in her home as long as possible. She passed 4 years ago, and my son has come to live with me in the home she left us. My wife has a very good job in Ohio, with thirty some years at a major soup company. I was a bricklayer and had worked in 4 states, spent 5 years in the Union, and was self employed 3 different times, not to mention countless stints for other contractors, including my brother.
4 years ago, due to lack of work in masonry, I went to work at WalMart, and after 2 1/2 years there, I came to be a service employee (janitor) at a major candy factory.
Now to the question.
I’m kinda stuck here for now, my son and I. He has a learning disability and is on SSI, so I’m struggling to keep the home here, etc.I had a powerful reconversion 4 years ago, and have been faithfully practicing my faith in all areas, including chastity and fidelity, which I discovered, was not as challenging as I expected with God’s help. I have never been unfaithful. In fact, my wife is the only one I ever slept with.
Am I doing this right? Given the circumstances? At confession, when I told the priest my situation, and that I was chaste, and I repented for my use of contraception, he didn’t really deal with that one way or the other, but I feel like this period of my life is part of my penance for allowing that to happen.
Should I be doing all I can to get back to Ohio? or just keep following the Lord’s lead like I feel like I have been?
Sorry for writing a book here.
I have always been aware of the challenges in changing jobs, selling the home, moving,etc., but I trust the Lord to show me how.