HOW IS YOUR CAPACITY TO FORGIVE? GODWINKS HELP YOUR HURTS “My SISTER was KILLED by a drunk driver when I was 14. The night before she died, wed had a terrible ARGUMENT. She and I were constantly fighting because I had taken over the parental role as ‘Dad’ in our dysfunctional family. Knowing that our last interaction before she died was so negative left me HEART-BROKEN. My sister had grown more and more rebellious due to absent parents ... she was the ONLY MEMBER of the family that I talked to openly about my FAITH. The day she died, I WEPT UNCONTROLLABLY and kept asking God why He had let this happen. More that anything I needed to know that my sister was with Him so that I could have PEACE IN MY HEART. My sisters FAVORITE COLOR was light BLUE. So I asked God to please GIVE ME A SIGN using her favorite color. The night she died, I was standing outside of my favorite aunts house and suddenly up in the night sky there appeared a beautiful, dancing BLUE RIBBON OF COLOR ... the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights ... which I had NEVER SEEN before in my entire life. My aunt and I stood in amazement and just WEPT at the sight of such a glorious CONFIRMATION FROM GOD. As we were preparing for her funeral, a neighbor had come to our home with a beautiful LIGHT-BLUE dress and asked if we could use it for my sister. It was ANOTHER CONFIRMATION from the Lord. A day or so after the funeral a friend and I were chatting and she said to me, ‘Gerry, Ive heard that if you receive A ROSE after someones death, that means that they are in heaven’. Such superstitious beliefs dont sit well with me so I just smiled and said, ‘Thats interesting’ and disregarded the comment. A few days later I was cleaning out my sisters room and found a small New Testament that I had been given in 5th grade. Inside I had filled out a personal commitment to the Lord by placing my name and the date at the back of the bible. I flipped it open and to my surprise (and joy) my sister HAD SCRATCHED OUT MY NAME AND PUT HERS with her DATE OF COMMITMENT in place of mine. I sat on the floor and laughed and cried at the same time. Within moments my mother walked through the door and handed me a small vase with a SILK LIGHT-BLUE rose in it ... I just lost it. She told me that this was all that remained from the funeral and when she realized that I had not gotten anything to remember my sister by, she hid it away so that she could give it to give to me later. That LIGHT-BLUE ROSE remained with me for many, many years. God never ceases to amaze me ... especially in the way He speaks to His children.” Gerry Gionet •••• Gerry’s story reminds us of when we were kids and tried to understand the meaning of “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespasses against us.” In the Lord’s Prayer, we are given the pathway to finding peace with ourselves for things said and done. Because God is so willing to FORGIVE YOU for your trespassing on the personal space of others, shouldnt you have the capacity to FORGIVE THOSE who may have TRAMPLED UPON YOUR FEELINGS? Good wishes for godwinks. SQ Btw, Gerry’s story was published in Godwink Stories: A Devotional. Chap 41.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 19:50:00 +0000