Dear Pastor,

I am 26 and married. I have one child. My husband works on shift and sometimes when I am gone to work, he is sleeping. My parents live in the country. Sometimes when they come to Kingston, they stay with us. My husband gets along very well with my parents. My mother came to Kingston suddenly and she stayed over. I forgot to inform my husband. When he came home everybody was gone to bed. But in the morning I left a note on the night table informing him that my mother was there.

My husband does not sleep in clothes and he woke up and did not see the note and walked into the kitchen in the nude and encountered my mother. When my mother saw him, she screamed and asked him what he was trying to do and why he didn't have on clothes. She complained to me that my husband didn't even try to cover up. He proceeded to the refrigerator and took out his drink and walked back into his room.

she kept looking

She called me at work and told me what had happened. When I called my husband, he said he was sorry but blamed me for not waking him up and telling him that she was there. Then my husband added that my mother didn't appear to mind seeing him in the nude because she kept looking down at his privates. I asked my mother if it was true that she was staring at him and she said that it was not true and she will never come back to the house unless my father is coming with her.

What is bothering me is that my mother is giving the impression that my husband wilfully came in the kitchen naked because he wanted to expose himself to her, but my husband is not like that. He is a very decent man and would not want to have an affair with my mother.

I find myself having to defend my husband and it would be so nice if my mother would stop talking about this. And she has been telling all my relatives what happened. I would like you to comment on the incident.

B.B.

Dear B.B.,

I doubt that your husband had an ulterior motive. Many men and women do not sleep in clothes. This man did not expect anybody to be in the house at that time. He did not see the note that you left. So when he walked from his bedroom into the kitchen, he was shocked to see your mother and she was shocked to see him.

Your mother had complained that he did not attempt to cover up. My question is, what would he use to cover up at that time? Would it have been the dishrag or the dishes? Is your husband serious when he said your mother was staring? If she kept staring, was she looking for anything special? I doubt that. I hope your mother keeps quiet and looks at it as an incident and stop putting a motive behind it.

Pastor