The Journey of Parenthood…

I Forgive You

SO honored to have a new friend of mine, Adrienne from Blessed Beyond Exhaustion, guest posting today. She has such a great, encouraging blog and I am sure this post will hit home for many of you as it did for me! 


I FORGIVE
YOU

My 20th high school reunion was a
couple years ago.

Yes, I know I’m old so you don’t
need to mention it.

What comes to your mind when you
think of high school?

For me, I think of homecoming
parades and being captain of our danceline. I am reminded of prank calls and my
sweet sixteen surprise party; junior/senior prom and driving up and down the
main roads in our small town; fighting with my boyfriend and eating lunch on
the sidewalk at school with my friends. High school was an interesting and
exciting time.

But I also remember girl drama
and jealousies. People who, even twenty years later, can still leave a bitter
taste in my mouth. I’m pretty sure that if I saw those people now, I would
behave like a civilized adult, but I wonder if I’ve actually forgiven them for
the hatefulness they displayed so many years ago.

Are you with me on any of this?
Can you relate? Do you have some of those people in your life?
People that you tolerate but maybe you’ve never actually forgiven?

Last night as I was attempting to
read a bedtime story to my two younger children, three-year old Vivienne
grabbed a different book and started “reading” it. Very loudly.
I politely asked her to be quiet so that I could continue
reading the story I had chosen, but she wouldn’t obey. After giving her
numerous opportunities to stop, I finally sent her to her room for
disobeying. (And I may or may not have raised my voice a little.)

A few minutes later, she came out
of her room, grabbed my face with her tiny little hands, looked me in the eye,
and said:

I love you, Mommy. I forgive you.

Um. What?

I’m not sure I was the one
who needed forgiveness in that moment.

(But
really, how could I not forgive this precious face? Sigh…)

Vivienne’s declaration of
forgiveness caught me a little off guard, however, and I began wondering
whether I am quick to forgive others in my life.

The Bible tells us in Matthew
chapter 6 that if we forgive other people when they sin against us, then the
Lord will forgive us. But if we don’t forgive others, then He won’t forgive our
sins.

Whoa. That’s a pretty serious
statement. But how do we forgive others, especially those who hurt us deeply?

I will be the first to admit that
forgiveness can be difficult. And for the record, forgiveness doesn’t
necessarily mean that we give the offender access to us again.

But when we choose forgiveness,
we take away the power that the offending person has over us.

When we choose forgiveness, we
receive healing in the depths of our souls.

When we choose forgiveness, we
can be assured that the Lord is pleased and He hears our prayers.

When we choose forgiveness, we
set an example to our children of how to live and love like Christ.

Today, I challenge you to become
more aware of opportunities for forgiveness in your life. Forgive your husband,
your child, your friend, your boss. If anyone in your life needs
forgiveness, extend it to them.

And rest assured that you are
modeling a Christ-centered attitude while teaching your children to be
merciful and full of grace.

 Sign up for weekly updates on my website – Blessed Beyond Exhaustion. Feel free to take a look around; I would love for you to
join me there!

 And for more encouragement, check out my
devotional for moms called Mommy Has Crinkles.

Emily Parker
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