Forgiveness

I want to share with you a sweet story of forgiveness and learning and grace.  I’m worried that I’m not going to be able to communicate the weight of importance that this story really holds, but I’m willing to give it a shot.

One of the girls from PDE has been staying with me for awhile after her stay in the hospital.  She went back one morning to the girls’ house while I had some stuff I had to get done and apparently they weren’t ready for that.  One of the other girls started in on her saying really terrible things.  But the reaction wasn’t good either and the fine line between defending yourself and attacking the other person got crossed.  Soon they were just being downright nasty to one another and saying things that really you should never tell someone.

The morning ended with two girls who were both sad and broken and ashamed of the things they had said and done.  They both felt terrible and hated by the other.  They felt like it was not reconcilable.  Thankfully, that is not how our God works.

I talked a lot when we got back to the house that day about grace and forgiveness.  Forgiveness when the other person doesn’t ask for it, forgiveness when they continue to be mean to you.  And asking for forgiveness even when its hard and you don’t know how they’ll respond.  We talked about finding our security in who we are in Christ and not having to worry about what others think about us.  And little did I know that Dona Oneyda was counseling the very same thing to the other girl.

That night after church we got out to the car and the first thing I heard was a sweet report of reconciliation and forgiveness.  The Lord brought them to the same place at the same time.  They talked and were both surprised at the other’s apology.  One confessed that she has never asked for forgiveness like this before in her life.  And they forgave each other, they really did.  And I think they are friends… more now than before.

The Lord is sweet in what He is teaching them.  I love watching it.