There was a young couple who were very good at fighting. For years, I spent time comforting, scolding, and counseling the wife, who would burst into tears several times a month saying, “I just can’t live with him anymore.” Whenever they happened to show up at church together on Sunday, I would sit in the back, smiling silently like someone with honey in their mouth.

Then one day, they bought a beautiful house in a nice suburban area and moved in. Since they moved into a new home that everyone envied, I thought, Surely now they’ll live peacefully. But even on moving day, and while unpacking, they kept threatening me—half joking, half serious—that they were going to pack their bags and separate. Hanging picture frames, arranging dishes in the cupboard, sowing seeds and planting flowers in the yard—everything became a quarrel, and the poor parsonage phone rang day and night because of them.

But at some point, the wife’s teary calls stopped completely. On Sundays, when they came to church together, I saw them sitting side by side, passing the baby back and forth, exchanging affectionate glances.

Since I had always prayed for their love to mature, I felt a quiet pride, thinking God must have seen my earnest heart. But one day during prayer, a sudden thought brushed past me: Find out why they’re in a ceasefire.

I called the wife at a time when she would be alone. I gently asked how things were going. With a subdued voice she said, “I’m just enduring.” I was so grateful that I added, “Yes, when a wife praises and supports her husband, men will work tirelessly for their families. Your husband is a wonderful man. For your own happiness, keep praying and stay faithful.” She quickly responded, “…You probably can’t imagine how much I’ve been praying and singing hymns lately.” “Really? You’ve received grace!” I said. What greater blessing is there than a family becoming peaceful through God’s grace?

But her voice did not sound touched by grace at all. “…Actually, Mrs. Yoon, you need to come soon and hold a service at our house. I heard a rumor recently when I went out with the baby… The previous owner—the husband—died in the basement…” Her voice shrank to a tiny whisper, trembling with fear. “…Whenever I have to go down to the basement to do laundry, I can’t go unless I prepare myself with prayer and hymns. And when I’m home alone, it’s even worse…” Her voice sounded like she might burst into tears at any moment. I prayed earnestly for her over the phone and set a date for a pastoral visit.

In the Bible, when the Israelites turned away from God, He often used foreign nations to discipline them. God seeks out His chosen children through any means and desires to bless them.

In a way none of us could have imagined, God was working on this couple, and the late bloom of their marriage was finally beginning to open. As they experienced firsthand that humans cannot live even a moment without relying on God, their humbled, softened attitudes were truly beautiful. “If only they had lived like this from the beginning!” I couldn’t help but laugh until my stomach hurt at God’s humor—using a haunted house to bring harmony into a home.

– WanHee Yoon, June 18, 1998