Forgiveness is a Choice

I have been mulling over the idea of forgiveness since I was listening to a call-in radio show a few weeks ago on this subject.

It's one of those things that seems like you understand but then when you really stop and think about it, you realize you don't. Anybody else had that feeling? Maybe it's just me. I have been really thinking about it a lot and trying to wrap my head around it and I think I've come to some conclusions.

Before you can really discuss this subject with anyone else, determining their view on morality is key. Christians believe that God created the world in a perfect state but that got ruined when sin entered. Sin changed everything. Now there's a big gap between mankind and God but God wants us to be near him. We can't be near him when we have sin so he gave us a solution. He sent his son in a human form to earth and sacrificed him on the cross as payment for our sins so that we can be forgiven. If you don't believe that, you really can't understand what forgiveness is all about.

As I drift back to that radio show, I remember hearing numerous stories of people who carry regret in varying degrees over things they did or said or didn't do or say to those important in their lives. My first thought is, "wow...they sure do carry a lot of guilt!" But guilt cannot be a substitute for forgiveness. Forgiveness lets go of everything. I began to wonder if those people really understood what forgiveness is.

Over the past few weeks, the idea of forgiveness has not been far from my mind as there has been a lot of mention of a forgiveness conference that is touring across Canada. This conference is strongly supported by the churches and we are encouraged to go and participate in an effort to show our support. It is a response from the Native peoples to Prime Minister Harper's public apology for what the European immigrants inflicted when they migrated to the new world. To give a brief synopsis; there has been an unrest and in some cases, animosity from the Native people groups towards the Canadian government that dates back to before the birth of this country. The government and churches over the decades imposed many hurtful programs in an attempt to anglicize the Native people through residential homes. Later, in an effort to make peace, the government "gave" the Natives their lands back in the form of reservations. Needless to say, there has been a large wedge placed between the Natives and the rest of Canada. {Please note that this is a very brief history and not by any means intended to an accurate historical account. I am simply giving some background information for those unfamiliar with that history.}

As I think back in my own life and as I hear about the world's view on forgiveness, I am entirely convinced that forgiveness is a choice. It's not always an easy one but it is a choice. I am boggled by the magnitude of God's choice to place all my (and the rest of the world's) sin on his son and sacrifice him on our behalf. What an amazing act of love! I'm glad that God is who he is and that never changes. He gave his son so that I could be forgiven. Should I not then in turn forgive my fellow man?

The Spudwick Papers -- Feeling a Little Discouraged

It has been a while since we gave our loyal readers (all two of them) an update on us. (I'm pretty sure only our mothers read this...but that's okay...we know they love us!)

To be honest, it has been a trying few weeks. Jeff has been trying to find a rhythm with his new job that works for him and allows him to get a normal amount of sleep and accomplish what his job requires of him. For a while it seemed like what was being asked of him was almost to the point of being impossible, both physically and legally but the company was recently audited and has been required to make some changes. These changes should bode well for both Jeff and the company. Unlike his previous job, Jeff is now home most nights for which he is grateful but there's a drawback...there's no consistency to his paychecks. This job is much more dependent on the weather than his last and the organizational structure is much looser. We have found that his paychecks are rather on the shy side of things which has added to our overall sense of discouragement.

The older of our two vehicles, usually a reliable car, has had some major repairs on it that have dug into our financial bottom line. Just as soon as we fix one problem another pops up right away. It has been like this for about 2 weeks. It's not that we can't afford to have the repairs done; we can, but we're having to take it out of the savings for other purposes. We had thought that we might be able to consider buying a house within the next year or so but that idea has been pushed to a very, very back burner. Cutting other expenses has become the name of the game but you can only cut back so far. We have already cut back on a lot of expenses since Jeff is not driving long haul anymore but the car repairs are eating up much more than we've been able to cut back. Short of Jeff finding another new job that pays a consistent wage to meet our needs, we may have to just stick it out until I can get finished with school (my finishing date is still two years away).

We know that it is ultimately God who provides for us. He has also promised to prosper and not harm us but he also promised that as followers of Christ, we will face hardships. It really is no surprise that all this "not so fun" stuff is happening but it sure is not very comfortable either. In the bigger picture, these events are rather small and in comparison to the trials that some other folks in our church are having, our issues are pretty small. It's all about our perspective. Are we viewing our difficulties from our eyes or from God's eyes? And are we focusing on the truly eternal things; the things that matter the most, like how we react in the midst of our troubles? Are we still worshiping our Creator and giving him the glory his deserves? Kinda makes our troubles seem so much smaller when I think of it that way.

For now, it's one day at a time and deal each issue as it comes up but more importantly, praising our God in the midst of it all. I always feel better when I worship...here's one of our favorites for you to enjoy.

March Birthday Madness

So this week has been filled with birthdays (in fact, the whole month is filled) and since I didn't get to send each of those special people a personal birthday greeting, we'll do it blog style!

We hope that each one of you had a very special day, filled with love and blessings. As you embark on this next year of your life, may it also be filled with even more blessings! Love and hugs to each one of you from us!

And now it's time for Silly Songs with Spudwick

This is the part of the show where Spudwick comes out and sings a silly song....well, we won't really sing it.

This one I picked just because. It's silly and rivals the hall-of-famers that Veggie Tales has made famous.

For your viewing pleasure, the Muppets with Me-nah-me-nah. (Sorry for the poor quality of this video.)

Validation

A friend had sent me an email last week with a link to a video in it.

Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of YouTube. I don't spend hours on end looking up videos to watch but I sure appreciate others who have the patience for that. When I got the email with this video link in it, I was quite taken with the quality and message of this little project. It is about 15 minutes long so if you can find the time to spare, I highly recommend it.

Without further adieu, Validation.