God did something great for me last night...
A couple of days ago, a friend on facebook said that her plans had been cancelled last minute so I told her that she was more than welcome to come to Avatar with my friends and me that night. Well things ended up not going as planned and we ended up seeing the movie last night.
Sidebar: I LOVED IT!!
I don't know if you remember, but a couple of years ago, Seri was supposed to come with me to a concert because a friend of mine backed out last minute. This was the friend. Short version of the story: "J" backed out of going to the concert at the last minute. I was scrambling for someone to take the ticket and Seri said he wanted to go. Well, at the last minute, he decided that he shouldn't go because of his girlfriend. that lead to a whole bunch of dramatic happenings. But anyways...I've never had any hard feelings towards her but I have been annoyed with Seri from that time on. I take the opportunity to bring up the money that he refused to pay me for that ticket every time one comes up.
Well last night, I ended up paying for our movie tickets in advance so we had to stop at Walgreens to get some change so she could pay me for the movie. Well, she ended up paying me for the movie and the concert!! I was shocked! I wasn't expecting it at all. She said that it had been on her heart and mind for a long time.
When she handed me that money, I immediately felt...forgiveness... Weird, huh? You'd think I'd be feeling the warmth of that money burning a hole through my pocket. I realized as I put that money away, that I'd been really harboring some feelings of bitterness towards Seri due to this money. I thought that I was fine with him and the recent happenings - for the most part. But I'm not.
I can honestly say that everyday I learn to forgive him a little more. Right now it's just a thimble of forgiveness but I look forward to the day that it's an amazing amount like a roomful or infinite.
A few years ago, I went to see India Arie in concert for my birthday with my road dawg Leigh. It was amazing!! Spoke to me on so many levels. One thing that she said, though, that will stick with me forever, is that you don't have to forgive everything that people to do to you, say about you or whatever all at once. It's on-going process. You forgive them as much as you can every day. And each day you ask God to help you forgive them a little more.
That's where I'm at today. Forgiving a little more than I did yesterday. It feels good. God saw my need and provided - and it touched me in a way I wasn't expecting.
El Roi - the God who sees me...I have that name tattooed on me in Hebrew characters. It meant a lot to me when before but it means so much more now. Concert tickets may not mean much to you. But to me, they mean forgiveness, friendship and blessings.
