Okay, so this morning I started the coffee maker and walked away...not noticing that the pot was still over by the sink. A frustrating start.
No matter how early I wake up, if the clock is on the right side of 2am, I get up, thinking God has something I need to learn...except this morning when I decided to go back to sleep. Next call was 3:43am.
In my world, that is really late and I get annoyed with so much less time to meet with God. The exhilaration of uninterrupted hours and strong coffee both askew.
I wonder how to reclaim my day, my peace, my starter engine.
On a similar note, as I wrestle with my day, people wrestle with each other. It happens all the time. Can they reclaim their friendship, their peace, their engine of getting along smoothly? Can they recover the exhilaration that love and friendship provide?
The words listen and forgive come to mind.
Maybe God would say to me, "It's okay to sleep 'in' once in awhile. Be flexible with your day."
And perhaps he would say to the wrestlers about to destroy a friendship: "It's okay to disagree once in awhile. Let both sides fully speak and fully listen to know each other's reasoning. Make room for each to have some right thinking. Be flexible with each other."
We all need to listen.
And then to me he might say, "Forgive your annoyance with the day's start. Find new exhilaration even now."
And to the wrestlers? "Forgive your annoyance with each other. Start a new relationship with the exhilaration of love and friendship now."
We all must forgive, lest we forget that most annoying admonition by God that he will forgive us only as we forgive others.
I once gently conveyed that very idea to a person in a serious wrestling match and she replied, "But I'm not Jesus."
Correct. But as Christ-followers, we are called to Jesus-like decisions.
If you're wrestling with your day or your friend, here's to listening and forgiving.
My husband will be up soon. Best be making some more coffee.
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