Forgiveness

I told you in my previous post I would tell you about the change I have seen in the life of my friend, Decata. I met her about 4 years ago when we both started helping at Kids Klub.

She was newly divorced after a 30-something year marriage and was more than happy to tell everyone she met about how horribly she had been wronged and she had been. The problem was that is what she dwelled on. I’m not judging her here, I think most of us would have been the same way. The next summer she had lost some of her anger but still had so much hurt, anger and bitterness that it couldn’t help but spill out. She was ready to let loose on her ex and his new wife at the drop of a hat.

Last summer we were cleaning up 1 day and it just dawned on me that she was so much more joyful and I asked her about it. She told me that a preacher at the barrel races she sometimes works at had had a talk with her. He told her that if she continued being angry and letting it dominate her life that her ex was winning. He didn’t care that she was hurt and angry and it wasn’t affecting his life at all…it was only making her miserable. I’m sure he prayed with her and she thought and prayed about it a lot. God worked on her heart and she was able to forgive him. She said it was like a huge weight was lifted from her.

We have talked about it some more this summer and she says that she can now look back on their life and appreciate the good times and of course she is thankful she marred him and has her children and grandchildren, who are the light of her life. She even told me the other day she just wishes that if he didn’t love her anymore he would have left her earlier so that she could have started living her new life sooner. For those of you who know her you have to agree that Decata is like a jar of bubbles. She spreads laughter wherever she goes. When we talked about “joy” as a fruit of the spirit this summer, I couldn’t help but think that Decata is a great example of that. She always finds something to laugh about, looks forward to tomorrow, and is 1 of the kindest women I have ever met.

She says that Kids Klub saved her but it was really Jesus putting her in the places she needed to be. She wishes she could talk to anyone who is anger and bitter and tell them what she knows now. The anger only drags you down and whoever you are angry with really couldn’t give a flip so you’re just hurting yourself by hanging on to it.

“When anyone reads the Lord’s Prayer they need to read the next 2 verses. Those 2 verses set me ‘free’!” Decata

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:14-15‬ ‭NIV‬‬