Good Morning,
The day began awhile ago for me and my blog is running late. I poured a mug of Door County Mocha Mint Coffee and now I can write.
Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor, and slander, be out away from you, along with all malice.
32. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
I don't have much of an excuse for writing later today, except that I wore myself out over the last two days and I am moving slow due to being tired. The other reason for being late is that I have been avoiding this subject that God laid on my heart to write. This one is difficult for me.
Both of my parents at two different times passed away unexpectedly. In both instances we were only days away from seeing each other. We were to celebrate my mother's birthday with her and she fell ill with a cold and she went septic in three days and died. It was just supposed to be a cold. A few years later we were to go and visit my dad for his birthday. He decided to do some roof repairs and the ladder moved. We still aren't sure exactly how that happened, but Dad fell, landed on his head and died suddenly.
In both instances we were surprised and shocked at the news. We did not get there to celebrate those birthdays. We did not know that when we said our last good bye on our last trip for a visit , that it would be the last time. We thought there would be another one.
Why am I writing this? I was in good standing with my parents, and all was good between us. My only regret is that I didn't visit more often. I can't do anything about that now. My goal today is to reach those who for probably good reasons have placed some relationships on hold or have walked away from some, due to emotional pain and sorrow. I can understand that, I guess. They might not be ready to forgive, forget and work things out. Readers, there is nothing worse than waiting on something you can't control. Waiting to forgive and reestablish a relationship is like spinning the wheel on a revolver and placing it to your head and pulling the trigger, hoping that your one chance in six is not a loaded round in the chamber. It is a very dangerous game to wait on working things out. You take for granted that there will be another day. There just might not be. So before you sit at a funeral, angry that the person who died did not reach out to you and angry for yourself for not doing the same, reach out before it is too late. You have no control over God's timing.
Carrying the burden of a grudge or inability to forgive will hamper other relationships in your life. A regret is something you carry with you to the grave. Live to love. Love to live and Live with no regrets. If you are reading this today and you need to forgive and reestablish, move on it. You never know when the call will come that stops your breath for a couple seconds and life changes in a big way. Worse yet, if it is you who pass away first, the one not forgiven lives with that hurt for the rest of their life. Do you really want to award them a life sentence of guilt? A sign of maturity is to not carry the burden of grudges. Living with the inability to forgive and carrying a grudge is not living a real life.
I used to call my dad every day after work. I miss those calls. I find myself wanting to call him every day at 5:pm. We were in a good relationship. If I could go back and place one last call to him before his accident, I would have said. "I love you and stay off of that roof!"
Food for thought.
Marty
Good stuff brother!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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