Yesterday, I got up and felt on top of the world...until I read something someone wrote to me. It was filled with anger. Have you ever unknowingly done something so thoughtless that you unwittingly upset others? It is hard to examine choices one makes and realize that you made a mistake but that is what I did yesterday. My first reaction was to strike back in anger at the unkind words but then I realized that I wasn't blameless. My thoughtless actions had consequences. I suppose you are wondering what I did.
I have been blogging for all of two months. I got as excited about it as a kid riding a bike without training wheels for the first time as I started to chronicle my days as a teacher. You could compare my enthusiasm to that of a kid in a candy store when it came to sharing my funny or sad stories about my teaching years with others. I started to get followers which was even more exciting! People actually wanted to read what I wrote. But then, I got greedy. I wanted more people to read my blog so I wrote a message last week on other blogs saying that if a person would be interested in following my blog, I would gladly follow their blog back. I got a lot of followers that way so I did it again this week.
Now comes the part of this post that is hard to own up to. I got another message later in the day yesterday from a sister in Christ. She kindly but purposefully pointed out to me how thoughtless I had been by posting that message. I hadn't bothered to read anything about her but instead had just left that message. I felt like God was telling me to go back and read her blog so I did. Here was a lovely woman who is suffering from a rare neurovascular disease that has left her disabled yet she praises God and is thankful for her blessings. She blogs about her lovely daughter, her sweet and supportive close-knit family, and her daily struggles with unrelenting pain. Despite this pain, she has a beautiful spirit to match her physical beauty. Not wanting the good work God can do through me to be hindered by my thoughtlessness, I bowed my head and asked God to forgive me for using such poor judgment and for being selfish. Then I wrote to both people and apologized. I am thankful for the lesson I learned yesterday despite the pain that it caused me.
Its hard to admit that we make mistakes but I am so thankful that God is so forgiving. I wish each and every one of you that reads this a very blessed day.
Thou, O Lord, Art A God Full of Compassion, and Gracious....Psalm 86:15
