CULTURE OF LIFE - CHANNELS OF GRACE | KAIROS GLOBAL | DECEMBER 2018

Author: Sumol Pious

Intro: Sumol Pious shares her experience of how as a family, she decided to follow the narrow path and found the joy that she was seeking in doing His will.

Many years back while attending a family retreat, we realized a grave mistake we had made as a family. I must admit that it took terrifying levels of courage to admit our mistake in front of all other retreat participants. Yes, you read that right – we acknowledged our mistake in front of the whole crowd. How did we come to acknowledge this? We believe it’s only by the grace of God.

Due to wrongly placed convictions at the beginning of our family life and a materialistic lifestyle – we took a decision to undergo sterilization after our third child’s delivery in 2004. Well, I was at a point in my life where I was just entering into a serious spiritual journey (through the Jesus Youth movement), and I knew what I was going to do was wrong. But to justify myself, I made a deal with my Lord. The deal was this – if the doctor were to ask me to do the operation on the third day after delivery, I will say NO. As it turned out, the doctor in fact came and asked me on the third day itself. However I said YES, ignoring my deal with the Lord. And that was it. The operation went through, and I thought I was in a safe zone now. I wouldn’t have to suffer any more the fear or tension of becoming pregnant again. As a young working mother, this life as I planned it was more important than the life that God had planned for me. We decided the path of our own life – how it should go and how we would live, like any other ordinary person. 

Life kept moving forward and slowly we began growing closer to God. And finally, during this Family Retreat God spoke to us. I confessed my sin and I was greatly relieved.

Even after taking and announcing our decision to undo the procedure in front of many people, it seemed as if I couldn’t bring myself to doing the recanalization. Every year, something or the other seemed to happen to keep me from doing it. Then something beautiful happened in 2012. That year there was a Consultation Meeting with all the Bishops who were supportive of Jesus Youth in Dubai. During the meeting there was a time for the participants to freely interact with the Bishops. Soon after the announcement, when I looked around, all the Bishops seemed to be accompanied by other JY’s and I didn’t get a chance to speak with anyone. I was a bit disappointed, but then when I looked on to the stage, (the late) His Eminence Cardinal Ivan Diaz was sitting alone right at the center of the stage. He smiled at me and I walked up to him. He invited me to sit next to him and we started our conversation. He asked me about my children. In the process of our conversation I told him about my decision to do the recanalization. He blessed me and while telling me with paternal love to always smile, exhorted me to be open to receiving children as children are a gift from God. That year during our family vacation, we as a family went for a one-month mission to Nagaland (a North-Eastern state in India). The day we got back, I went to the hospital and got myself admitted for the operation.  

We have since been blessed with our fourth baby. We, as a family have experienced great joy after my son’s birth. An immense feeling of unity and peace has prevailed in our family after his arrival. All those eleven years without him is a big question for us now. A family of grown-ups has been transformed into a playground filled with noise and laughter. He is a bundle of joy for us and everyone around us. Indeed we became a young family again – what special grace from our loving Lord! Thanks to our Lord who used us as his instruments, as co-creators.

As our Lord is so magnanimous in his love and mercy, he continues His work. After hearing our testimony, some of our friends have done recanalization as well, and some others have made the decision to do so soon themselves. All of these families are waiting to clear the way and grow closer to finding God’s meaning and purpose for their lives.

It is written in the book of Ecclesiastics, ‘There is a time for everything’. When we truly repent and acknowledge our sins, He will make our ways straight and set us on the path to understand His providence in our lives. 

Sumol, an active Jesus Youth lives in Muscat with her husband and four kids and is currently the animator of a Regional Council in Muscat. She works as a secondary school teacher