My family and I were blessed by our Sunday School class as they sent us off with a picnic. We will be leaving in a short two weeks and they wanted to have a get-together...to thank us I guess. But...the reality is...we should thank them.
We were welcomed into the class from day one. They were friendly and receptive of us both...and when Maggie was born we were REALLY accepted. There were bumps and bruises along the way at times...but those are good.
Toward the end of the picnic someone thanked me for giving them a second chance. You see...we had certainly not gotten off to a good start with one another. He saw me as sitting in my ivory tower...while I...in all honesty...saw him the same way. I believe there is truth to perceptions. Whether I or he wanted to admit it...we probably in some sense came across that way somehow. The shocking thing to me was when I received a message via email from this person who stated...bluntly...that he did not care for me.
I was shocked. How could someone say something like this? Some Christian he was, I thought. However, as time progressed...I began to respect what he did. You see...too often we hold back from revealing what we truly feel. We reserve our emotions and hesitate to be honest with one another. Accountability is an important part of Christianity...and sometimes...that means being honest. Why is it that this is so hard for most people? The answer: because it is not "nice". We are taught to be nice...not honest. We are taught that if we can't say something nice don't say anything at all...not honesty.
Is our relationship perfect now? I don't know. I could probably be better but distance and schedules (and gas prices) made it difficult to attend the men's lunches and really invest in building a relationship. I wish I had more time over the past few months...and more money for gas. Then I would have been able to make more of an effort. Because I know now that this person is a good man. But what I really learned is that I would probably have never known that about him if he never told me that he did not care for me because I am not sure I would have had the honesty to do the same. So...the reality is that we both probably needed a second chance...and I think that is what we got from one another. And...it all started with honesty.
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John 1:9-12
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.