Why She Stayed
Gayle Haggard Is either Insane or maybe one of the greatest models we have of true Christianity
What do you think about Gayle Haggard?
It’s been a little over 3 years since Gayle’s husband, evangelical leader Ted Haggard, admitted to “sexual immorality”, a confession he made after a Denver male escort claimed he and Haggard had a three-year sexual relationship.
Gayle and her husband went through the most gut wrenching, humbling, and public failures in ministry that we’ve seen in decades. They lost their church, their home, and immediately lost their prominence as the face of evangelicalism. The details of their descent to rock bottom were pictured in the HBO documentary “The Trials of Ted Haggard”, directed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra Pelosi.
I remember watching the documentary and thinking to myself, “Did it have to be this hard?” I understand the implications and why he was not to be allowed to immediately go back to New Life, but did this excommunication really have to be permanent?
Did the Haggard’s really deserve to be booted from their home and have to move to a place where they could for the health of the church somehow disappear?
Regardless of the church’s or Haggard’s rights or wrongs I have noticed Gayle Haggard. Although Ted Haggard disappeared from the spot light, it seems that Gayle Haggard appeared. Everyone wanted to see how she and her children would handle this whirlwind of disaster.
I personally think Gayle Haggard has taken the hard, hard road. No option would have been a good one following her husband’s fall, but instead of jumping ship, changing her name, and bailing town, Gayle did something most would find insane – - she stayed.
It’s the title of her new book, “Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made In My Darkest Hour”, which talks about her decision early on in the scandal to stand with her husband.
She said in her interview with Today Show host Meredith Vieira, “I knew I was going to have to make the choice early on . . . and I chose early on that I really do love this man and I’m willing to fight with him for our marriage, and for our family, and everything that I cared about… our church even.”
What do you think about Gayle Haggard?
I think she’s either insane or she is one of the greatest examples we have of the Christian life. In spite of the damage done by Ted’s wrong, Gayle has certainly modeled unconditional love for her husband. She could’ve left him, she could’ve broken down and cursed him in front of the church and the nation. She could’ve gone on a war against cheating husbands, using her influence to weed out other cheaters in today’s society.
But instead she stayed; she stayed with him all the way to rock bottom, to the desert and back. Today, 3 years later, Gayle Haggard has made up her mind that for her husband and her family… it was all worth it.
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March 11, 2010