Nels and Harriet Oleson seem to always be in some kind of disagreement, but this episode is an extreme case of how ugly marriage can be. When two people dig in their heals, won’t budge on their opinions of the other person it can be a recipe for disaster. I love how the producers of the show aren’t afraid to face the subject of divorce head-on.
Divorce is not only heart-breaking for the two people involved, but in this case the entire town. Nellie and Willy experience the worst of it. They take Harriet’s side, maybe because children on the prairie would never go with a father over a mother.
My family has gone through divorce as well. I was too young to even know what was happening. While God brought a step-dad into my life to raise me and love me, the scars of divorce have never really healed completely. My parent’s divorce resulted in 25 years of silence with my father. Growing up I always felt sad for him, that he missed out on his daughters.
Just recently, I’ve come in contact with my dad. To be honest it’s hard and uncomfortable, of course it is…. we hardly know each other. Like the Oleson’s, we are attempting to put the past behind us and give each other grace for the future.
It encourages me in my marriage, to never stop working at it. To be humble. To be the first one to offer forgiveness and the first one to admit when I’ve been wrong. To keep loving even when I don’t feel like it. To give grace again and again. And to pray that God would protect my marriage from my selfishness.
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