Kirk Franklin Shares 'Worst Fight' of His Marriage When He Acted Like a 'Fool'
Kirk Franklin says he and his wife, Tammy, engaged in "the worst fight" of their marriage 20 years ago and has decided to share the fallout from that incident so others can learn from his mistakes.
The music producer and songwriter posted a photo on Instagram Monday of him and his wife embracing in an airport. Two decades ago, however, the entertainer revealed that a less pleasant scene took place at the same unnamed airport.
"Twenty years ago me and Tammy (bad grammar) had the worst fight at this very spot. Married for just a couple of months we had a fight right here as soon as we landed," he captioned the image. "Being the hot headed fool I was, I bought her a plane ticket and told her to go back home while I headed to my performance. ... Such a fool."
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Looking back, Franklin said he realized how his actions affected his wife.
"It hurt her, like it should have ... to be so easily sent away. See, I was a runner when I was younger, I'd push you away out of fear of you leaving on your own," he admitted. "Tammy tolerated way more than she should have. I sat in that airport and cried like baby, delaying the concert."
Franklin admitted that he begged his wife for forgiveness, which in turn made him realize her patience and how that shaped their relationship.
"Thank God she did. Never did that again, and now look at us! A patient (not foolish) woman can change a man's narrative," he wrote. "Give him a chance or two to grow up, but don't make a sequel out of it. Glad that scene of the movie is over!"
Last year, Franklin shared other marital mistakes he made as a newlywed in an effort to help men learn and grow in their own relationship. In a blog posted on Patheos, Franklin said that while he was eating at a restaurant with his wife his attention was focused on another woman.
Instead of causing a scene, Franklin's wife gave him an ultimatum. He recalled her speaking with "the quietness of a lamb, yet the authority of a soldier," while letting him know that she would not allow him to look at both the woman and his wife.
After 20 years of marriage, Franklin chose his wife, Tammy. Still, he recalls the root of the real struggle he faced years ago.
"I had old habits I developed before I understood that salvation and sanctification were two different things and took some old hurtful habits into my marriage: promiscuity, a carnal approach to putting the past behind me, childhood addictions of pornography," Franklin wrote. "Of course, my wife's shoulders were not built for my unhealthy past. I almost crushed her in the beginning of our marriage, because one woman cannot keep up the performance of several. God never intended her to."
