Oh, Lucille...

I recently reviewed this book for Thomas Nelson Publishers and all I could say throughout the book was "Oh, Lucille..."

Bless her heart, she had a troubled upbringing. She had her superstar son when she was a teenager, she married young, and she had difficult relationships with the grandparents who raised her.

Not so different from millions of girls today, right? (Well, except for the superstar son part.)

But instead of serving up godly wisdom and advice, Ms. O'Neal dishes up a lot of bad excuses, rationales, and a sense-of-entitlement-gone-wrong.

She went from poverty to extravagant wealth, thanks to her son Shaquille. She writes arrogantly about the opulent lifestyle and excessive drinking she and her husband indulged in with other wealthy celebrities and celebrity moms.

I have always wished that people with money and privilege would recognize their ability to inspire and help others in a positive, God-inspired way.  Not saying that Ms. O'Neal doesn't help -- she writes often of giving charitably. 

But where does lifestyle evangelism come in? Where does practicing what you preach come into play?

Lucille, getting a divorce just because you feel you've outgrown your marriage is not a Biblical or reasonable reason. If it were, I tend to think that everyone who had ever married would be somewhere in the throes of divorce proceedings.

Marriage is tough enough in the real world without seeing bad marriages played out in the news and in books (like this one). With Al and Tipper, John and Elizabeth, Sandra and Jesse, Jennifer and Brad (yes, I'm still bitter that Brad left Jen for Angelina).....what we all need --- especially what young women need --- are true life stories of marriages gone right.

What is your best example of a "marriage gone right"?

2 comments:

Robin said...

My best marriage example is my parents.

My mom was young when they got married, 17 years old. My Dad wasn't a believer. It was a recipe for divorce and yet they are still married and it will be 48 years in August.

My parents don't talk about divorce. I don't believe it was in their vocabulary. When we asked to get married they told us that divorce wasn't an option. They expected that when we had problems we would work them out and that is what they modeled. They also told us that our marriage was the most important relationship that it came before our relationship with our parents and family.

Gretchen said...

My husband's parents are a great example of a good marriage. Is it flawed, yes. But people are flawed. However, through sickness and health, I have seen my MIL and FIL stick it out and shore each other up. For 48 years. Almost 49.

Of course my marriage is a close 2nd. :) At least I hope so.

So agree with your statements about Lucille. The old camel, eye of the needle thing, I'm afraid. And to be honest, I know all of us Americans are afflicted to some degree or another. Isn't this culture hard to shake? Come Jesus.