“Mother, we need to have a family meeting tomorrow evening.” One day, while wrestling in prayer over an unexpected family crisis, I called everyone together. As a pastor’s family, we were usually the ones encouraging others with courage, hope, and faith. But this time, we ourselves needed the comfort and support of our own family more than ever.

My brothers and sisters, living in nearby towns, arrived with tense and worried faces. They had only heard bits of my complaints and had been quietly praying for us, so they came prepared as if something truly terrible had happened.

We opened our hearts and shared the burden that had been troubling us in prayer—how we should face reality and which direction we should take. But deep inside, my pride was collapsing, and my unresolved anger rose up in a flood of tears I could no longer control. My family, who had never seen me so weak, sat stunned and unsure of what to do.

Then my mother spoke. Reflecting on the most painful moments of her eighty years, she said:

“You’re still young. What are you so afraid of? Everyone faces hardship once or twice in life. Just as we sometimes make mistakes without realizing it, those who hurt you probably acted without knowing. Time will reveal everything, and they will feel ashamed. Don’t blame others—use this pain to look at yourself and come before God with deeper humility.

“Do you know why I climbed Samgak Mountain so often after your father suddenly passed away? I had no idea how to survive, how to feed and educate six young children. Every morning I woke up thinking, ‘How will I pay their school fees?’ So at night I climbed the mountain and cried out, ‘God, I can’t do this. Please help me.’ And every time, He answered. Those moments felt endless, but looking back, they were brief. Never despair.”

With her rough, aged hands, she held our hands firmly. The tender eyes of my children, my siblings, and my nieces and nephews—each one silently sharing our pain—became a comfort beyond words. They could not carry my burden for me, but they stood beside me, wrapped me in love, and encouraged me to stand firm in faith. What greater strength could anyone ask for?

Only then did I realize that the shelter of family is like a fortress—strongest when life is hardest.

Not long ago, during Korea’s IMF crisis, newspapers were filled with stories of fathers who lost their jobs and simply walked away from home, leaving their families in anguish. Many homes fell apart—divorce, suicide, children suddenly becoming orphans. Yet isn’t it precisely in the hardest moments that God gives us the small community called family, so we can support one another?

A true family is not held together only when times are good and money is plentiful. It is in hardship—when we pray for one another, worry for one another, and face the storm together—that a family becomes stronger and more beautiful than before.

When a home is in trouble, tensions naturally rise between husband and wife. But that moment is also the perfect opportunity to show gratitude, to serve one another, and to embrace each other with greater generosity. In my own experience, when I turned my attention to helping neighbors who were suffering even more, I realized my own trial was not as overwhelming as it seemed—and I found the confidence to overcome it.

Henry Ford, after becoming successful in the automobile business, built a house in his hometown and held an open house. His friends were shocked—it was a small, humble home. Seeing their disappointment, Ford said:

“What good is a building? If there is love inside, it is a great home. Without love, even a stone palace will eventually crumble.”

“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.” (Proverbs 14:27)

After our family meeting, I realized this truth deeply: As long as I walk with a family that fears the Lord, there is no hardship we cannot overcome, no despair that can truly destroy us.

— Yoon Wan‑Hee, 9/22/1999