Forgiveness

At bedtime the other night, Deanna came into my room and sat down on the bed.

"Mama, I don't feel good."

Oh, goodness, here we go, I thought. Don't tell me she's getting the flu again or the lower dose of stomach medicine the doctor put her on is messing with her digestive tract. But she continued.

"Something happened at school today that upset me and I don't know what to do about it. Mrs. Routhier was reading to us out of the Bible today about not letting the sun go down on a problem between you and a friend. She's trying to teach us how important it is to deal with problems. I think I have to do something about this problem before I go to bed."

"Why don't you tell me what happened and I'll try and help you," I responded.

This is roughly the story. A friend of Deanna's was hanging out with their teacher from last year on the playground while she was supervising recess. Two other girls, one of whom Deanna is very close to, sort of elbowed their way in and, figuratively, pushed the other girl aside. The other girl, in frustration, talked to Deanna about her feelings of rejection and her hurt. Being the peacemaker that Deanna is, she decided she needed to talk to her friend. She approached her and the girl brushed her off, speaking, in Deanna's opinion, harshly to her. She wouldn't listen and was very defensive. Deanna was less concerned about the incident with the teacher, but very concerned that her relationship with her close friend was in trouble. And then, there was this thing about the sun going down...

"You ought to call her, honey, and try and talk it through," I offered. Her friend really is a kind person and loves Deanna. Deanna agreed to the phone call and I spent a few minutes coaching her as to what to say. It's not easy for a 9-yr. old to confront a friend that she feels has wronged her and handle it appropriately.

She called her friend and explained that she felt badly about how things had gone that day. She expressed her concern that her friend hadn't listened to her. Her friend responded that she had been thinking about it all day, too, but didn't have the courage to call Deanna about it. She told Deanna that she was wrong, asked her forgiveness, and told Deanna that she loved her.

Talk about Matthew 18:15 in action!! I'm so thankful my children have these kinds of Biblical principles to stand on and friends that practice them, as well. AND Godly teachers that help my children learn His ways and what He thinks about issues and relationships. What could have been a relationship-breaking incident instead was a relationship-building.

God's mercy continues to fall on us - like raindrops from Heaven.