Forgiveness

Insert moment of mommy weakness.

Yelling.
Impatience.
An accidental bump.
Wrongful accusation.

"I'm sorry, Aria.  Will you forgive me?"

"Yes."

Her forgiveness always happens and it is always instant.  She never hesitates.

Yet another lesson I've learned from my daughter.

There are certainly times I don't feel like forgiving her right away.  There are especially times I don't want to forgive others right away.  I was wronged and I want to be angry.  I want my opponent to feel true remorse.

But God forgives me right away.  If I come to Him with a repentant heart and ask Him to forgive whatever wrong I have done, He does.  It is instant and it is guaranteed.

Just like my daughter demonstrates to me.

Her heart is tender.  She is full of trust in me.  She loves me unconditionally.  All pure examples of the love of our Heavenly Father.

Aria's forgiveness doesn't happen just for me.  She is quick to forgive her friends, too.  One day we were goofing around and Aria got frustrated and bit me.  I don't ever recall her biting anyone, so it really caught me off guard.  I told her I didn't want to play with someone who bites me.  Then I asked Aria if she would still want to play with a friend (I picked a friend as an example) if she bit her.

She said, "Yeah because she is my friend."

She can get past infractions and injustices because of her love for her friends and her family.  She sees the heart and knows the ugly that sometimes comes out is not the true form of a person's character.  What a beautiful representation of 1 Samuel 16:7. "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Thank you, Lord, for giving me this beautiful daughter who teaches me so much about you.