Father-in-law fighting me out

Dear Pastor,

I hope all is well with you. I just want to talk to you about a matter. I have a friend. He is a Christian.

He was married but his wife has divorced him. He was involved with another woman, but she was trying to control him, so he decided to stop dating her.

He was struggling alone and was tired of eating fast food.

I started to cook for him, so he was coming by after work and having his dinner before going home. Sometimes after eating, he would watch television and I had to wake him up to go home. He never asked me if he could stay. But one evening, I observed that he had a little bag, and when I opened it, I saw clothes. So I asked him what he had in mind and he said he wanted to stay.

I said to him, "You didn't ask me whether you could stay," and he said he didn't think he had to ask. I did not say anything.

He had his shower and went into my bedroom, and that is how our relationship got stronger.

This woman he was dating scandalised his name and called me a whore. The more she talked is the closer this man and I got together.

When she saw that he would not leave me, she tried to get his relatives, including his father, to turn against me.

What they did not know is that his father and I were always talking on the phone, and the father was always asking me to help him buy personal stuff. So, I used to help him.

I found out that the father had a woman and she used to spend his money, and his son always talked to his father about giving this woman his money.

So when the others were bad-mouthing me, his father was 'talking me up'.

We got married quietly. We did not invite any of his relatives other than his father. This man had a house in Jamaica and he sold it.

He wants us to buy a house here, but I have my own, and I have two children who are grown.

I told him he should use his money to buy another house here in the US because we do not have any plans to return to Jamaica.

He told his father that he was thinking of buying a house in the US, and his father told him that he should make sure that he doesn't put my name on the title.

What kind of father-in-law is that? I confronted him and he said the reason he told him not to put my name was because people would say that I was trying to get everything that he has, and my children would get everything.

M.E.

Dear M.E.,

Evidently, this man and you have a good relationship. Therefore, you should not allow his relatives to stand in your way in any matter at all.

This man's father has been a hypocrite. He has a freeness mentality. Don't take him on. Your husband has sold his house in Jamaica and he wants to buy a house in the US; encourage him to do so. He doesn't have to follow his father's advice. He is old enough to make his own decision.

The both of you should discuss this matter with a lawyer before the house is purchased so that there will be no regrets on his side if the relationship fails.

Continue to do your best for this man. I wish both of you well.

Pastor