Robin's Nest: A Lesson in Forgiveness

**Taylor hacked into my computer (OK not really. He was actually supposed to be editing my grammar.) and couldn't help but add some of his own comments that I decided not to delete because he's so funny, and this post is seriously lacking in the funny department.**

This year I have been doing the Siesta Scripture Memory Team and it has been the biggest blessing of 2011 so far (excepting the daily experience of living with my amazing husband). I had been looking forward to February 1st for at least a week because that meant it was time to move on to memory verse #3. Due to the time difference between Edinburgh and Houston (6 hours), I didn't actually change verses until that afternoon, so I had one last quiet time with verse #2.

Here is a quick run-down of that fateful morning of February 1st:

7 am - I wake up (correction: my husband wakes me up), and do my normal routine: stumble out of bed, make Seth's bottle, rescue that smiling guy from his crib (one of my favorite things!), feed him, change him, plop him in the jumperoo while I unload the dishwasher, make his breakfast which this particular morning he was not very interested in, clean him up, play with him, and by 8:30 put him back down for his morning nap. This gives me a 2 hour window to drink my coffee without a little hand trying to grab it and have time with the Lord. Thank You, Lord for a really good sleeper!

This kid can sleep anywhere!

This particular morning I was tempted to get back in bed (but then I thought of my husband hard at work at New College and decided to get tough and stay up - sorry Taylor, this is not what happened!). As I was setting my alarm clock, our home phone rang. Trying not to worry (and praying it wouldn't wake the baby), I rushed to the phone. Relieved to see an 808 area code, I excitedly answered the phone to hear my brother, Mark, at the other end. You see, we have a Houston phone number, so with the time difference, that put most of our family at 2:35 am. No good calls come at 2:35 am. On Maui, however, it was only 10:35 pm.

Calculating time differences - one of the joys of living abroad (and another way of hurting my math-challenged brain!).

It's always great to hear Mark's voice. The night before I had been particularly missing him and talked Taylor's ear off with stories from our childhood. Mark is such a great brother! He is patient, loving, gentle, genuine, and very adventurous (almost as much so as Taylor). Life is always fun and never lacks for music when Mark is around. He provides the soundtrack for life when we're all together - especially on family vacations ("Oooahoooahooo baby please don't go..."). After college, Mark set out for Maui to pursue becoming a boat captain. When we visited in 2008, it was such a blessing to see him in his element and to watch him with his best friend (now wife!). They are two of my favorite people ever!

Craig and Mark on our vacation to Maui

Sis-in-law: Saray, Mom, Kait, Me

Well, during the course of our conversation, Mark told me that a family member of ours had sent out a vicious email to the entire family (minus Mark, my parents, and me - surprise, surprise), pitting Mark as the villain of her fabricated plot-line. I mentioned recently my strong sense of justice, so as you can imagine, I was not a happy camper. The proverbial claws were ready to come out. We talked about the best way to handle it and decided that he needed to sleep on it before responding.

We hung up, and I decided it would be better to have coffee and my quiet time instead of a nap. I prayed that the Lord would give me focus because all I wanted to do was call up this family member and give her a piece of my mind.

After prayer, I started to write out my memory verse. As I did, I began to laugh. Here is memory verse #2:

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ." 2 Cor 10:3-5

Isn't His Word so good? Isn't His timing perfect?

It doesn't stop there; my daily reading/study plan had me digging in and meditating on Psalm 32, tagline - "Blessed are the Forgiven." So Lord, you want me to forgive her? Even though she wasn't asking? Even though she doesn't deserve it? Who would do that? Oh, wait. That's what you've done for me...

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

What a divine opportunity to practice forgiveness. Because isn't true forgiveness letting go with no strings attached?

Right after my quiet time, the phone rang again. Mark couldn't sleep. After telling him what the Lord was teaching me, we talked about the best solution. Does this mean that we roll over, and pretend it didn't happen?

Answer: NO!

He didn't say not to wage war, but not to do it according to the flesh. Responding to a tough situation while remembering my status in Christ sure does change my attitude and way of going about things.

Be blessed today:

"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." Psalm 32:1-2