I know I was supposed to be writing about our travel adventures, but I felt compelled to step back and reevaluate some aspects of my life. Maybe this is a mini-mid-life crisis, or just age and wisdom FINALLY starting to soak in. I realize that I had posted a story about a negative experience in my life recently and I've been struggling with forgiveness. I'm not sure why forgiving someone who has done us wrong seems so difficult, but it has been for me.
My sister put things into perspective for me when discussing the trial I had posted about. She might as well have hit me over the head when she explained, "Is that how you want to be forgiven? Would you want the Lord to say 'I forgive you, but I don't want to hang out with you'?" Ouch. I am nowhere near perfect and I continue to struggle with complete forgiveness. I do know that as I make progress, I feel more at peace and can focus on the positive in my life. I took another step in what I hope is the right direction - I deleted my old post. The pain of being wronged is still there but the hatred is gone. Sometimes I think the pain is meant to linger, but for positive reasons -- it gives us perspective, keeps us from repeating our mistakes, and helps us think about how we are treating others.
