Chains

Exodus 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord and God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 

My mother was a good mother, she would take care of us, feed us, make sure we took a shower everyday, did our homework, but she was orphan and all she knew was to yell and call us names. Her mom died when she was almost seven and she only knew evil stepmothers who mistreat her and her brothers. She tried her best to take care of us and make sure we were well but she didn't know how to express her love.
My older sister run away with her boyfriend when she was only 15, trying to escape the abuse. I was just 9 years old and became the oldest of four and had the responsibility to help, clean, and wash. I remember she use to hit us before that, but when I became the oldest she became more abusive to all of us. She was always angry and we could never do anything right.
Time went by and I started to notice that not everyone had a mom that hit and called them names. I understood that it was her that was wrong, that there was something wrong with her. My father was a complete opposite to her. He was loving and fun and always said please and thanks. I remember thinking how can he had fallen in love with someone so different.
One day on church a brother from another town came to preach and he preach about chains. I was around 12 years and i was taking care of my baby sister who was 2. She fell asleep on  my arms and my mother kept me in the temple with them. I wanted to go to my class but i dare not say it to my mom.
The preacher started with this verse Exodus 20:5. Then he told the story of a little boy that was afraid to go home, his dad was a drunk and would beat his mom and him. The little boy went home and found his mom bleeding on the floor, helped her to the sofa and aid her wounds. As morning came his father woke and found him sitting besides his mom. The father took him and hit him with the belt, asking where he had been. The mother woke up and told him that he had been on the store, he went to get some eggs. She got up and with her face all purple manage to smile. She made breakfast, they ate and the father went to work. This was a normal day on the life on this little boy.
This little boy grew up thinking that his mom did not deserve this, that she was good, and that one day he could be big and defend her. The little boy grew up and became a men, got married and had children.
One night he came home to find his mom waiting for him. He was drunk again and it was almost morning. He asked for his wife and children but she just kept silence. He came to sit next to her on the sofa, she hugged him and told him she loved him. The men felt like a little boy on his moms arms and cried himself to sleep. When he woke it was already midday and his mom was making breakfast. Panic filled his heart, he wondered where his family was. "Where is my wife?" he asked, but his mom kept silence. "Where is my family?" mom please answer me, he plead, but the his mom just kept making breakfast. He stared at her and set at the table.
The mom sat down next to him and took his hands on hers. She could have told him any things, but nothing could hurt as much as the truth :"you have become your father."
Time stopped and the men was a little boy on the corner crying for his mother once again, but this time he was the one hitting her. Then the preacher said he was that men, he was that little boy. He had become his father.
I felt that my heart stopped and my hands were shaking. I felt like my worst fears come to life. I wanted to scream and cry and beg God for my children, I didn't want to be my mom.
Then the preacher started to say that God can help us, people that had chains, chains of pain, suffering, hate, resentment, God can set us free.
I prayed that night for the chains that my mom had placed around me all my life, to be broken. I asked God that if i was to be my mom, that i wanted to have all the good that she gave us on her good times. I prayed for my mother so her chains could be broken too. I prayed for my sisters that their chains could be broken.
When we come to the Lord, and accept Jesus as our savior, He brakes the chains, He changes our life for ever, and teaches us how to love and how to be love.
Come to the Lord and He will brake your chains and set you free.


Blessings,
Bany Basto