Forgiveness Archives - The Mom Initiative

Forgiveness is a Choice of the Heart

“Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Col. 3:13 TLB Forgive? How do you forgive the one who… * sabotaged your husband’s business. * introduced your child to drugs or alcohol. * stole your identity, leaving you with a financial mess. * abused you sexually as a child or did so to your child. * lured your teenager from the internet into running away. * kidnapped your child and sold him/her for sex trafficking. * drove down the wrong side of the expressway at night in a drunken …

The Old Rugged Cross

I cannot sing and cry at the same time. Therefore, I never sing “The Old Rugged Cross.” You see, I had a precious grandmother whom I adored. She loved to sing the old hymns, loud and off-key. And that hymn was one of her favorites. I can still hear her voice ringing in my memory. Jesus has been listening to her sing for the last 56 years. I’m sure she sings much better now. George Bennard, a Methodist evangelist, wrote the first verse of “The Old Rugged Cross” in 1912 and finished the hymn one year later. It is said …

The Whole Crayon

Every spring we load our kids and dog into Clifford the Big Red Suburban and we drive up to Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park. As we drive, I look for signs of new growth, the green shoots of spring give my heart such hope after the coldness of winter. I look for “critters”–elk, coyotes, moose, chipmunks and marmosets. Above all, I let my spirit find rest in the beauty of God’s magnificent creation! At the supper-side of our journey, we always stop in downtown Estes Park at Bob and Tony’s Pizza. We order our pizza and the kids play Pac Man, Pinball or …

When Mom’s Words Hurt

Six words. Only six words, but they flew out of my mouth to the heart of my son before I could capture them and lock them away where the sun doesn’t shine. I was immediately sorry and saw the look of injury on his face. I wanted to take the words back, but they escaped, never to be taken back. Sometimes moms say hurtful things we can’t take back. What’s a mom to do when we regret words we say to our own? If you’re like me, you watch and wait, hoping to see signs your words weren’t really that …

Spray Paint, Vandals and Mercy, oh My!

The reigning champ of getting my two year old daughter to stay down for her nap, I was savoring the taste of sweet victory as I plunked myself down on my comfy leather couch. I inhaled a deep sigh of relief, ready to enjoy a much anticipated respite. My sigh of relief; however, was quickly interrupted by an eerie silence that seemed to suddenly settle into our home. Careful to not wake up my daughter, I quietly called out to my boys. Jordan? Jake? There was no answer. I made my way through the house, checking every room and their known …

Looking for a Fence

Growing up on a 100-acre cattle and horse farm, I learned early on how to put in a fence post. First you needed gloves to protect your hands from blisters and thorny-pieces of wood. Then you’d take the post-hole digger and begin at the spot designated for the fence post. As a weakling like me, you jumped on the top of the post-hole digger. Jumping over and over and over, you would work the post-hole digger down. Then carefully, you would open the post-hole digger and hold the dirt you have displaced and set it outside and beside the hole. …

Choices

That afternoon changed everything. Our happy, church-going family was suddenly thrown into unimaginable pain. Like so many of my sweet sisters in Christ, this was the afternoon I stumbled upon porn on our computer, and the pornography ended up to be just the tip of the iceberg. It seemed each day brought new, unimaginable confessions from my husband. I was plunged into pain so deep and heavy I could hardly breathe. The shock that this could have come from my husband, practiced in my own home, was incomprehensible. Where was God in this? Why didn’t He protect me? And what …