Dad's Apologize

Saying "I'm sorry" is a difficult thing for most of us. It's one of those things where we hope the other person will either forgive first or simply forget anything we may have done to offend them. It's funny because sometimes we don't even know we need to apolozige for one of those behaviors - we just assume others have to understand. When we don't have time to spend with our children, or we give them a look that says, "I'm not here for you now" or "I;m not really interested in what you have to say, because it's just life.

But is it? The good news is that you're the kind of dad who does not take his children for granted. You know enought about yourself and you trust and respect your children enought that when a circumstance occurs that requires an apology, you give it.

That's not to say you don't hesitate a bit before it happens - feeling the grief of the situation is just natural, but you know that a lack of forgiveness on your part or your child's part not only affects the present, but very likely affects the future. It is, after all, the very reason Jesus died for us, so we could each be forgiven and thave a future with our Father in heaven.

Thanks for being a father who is willing to express a desire for reconciliation whether the situatiion was acturally your fault or not, but most notably when it was. As Samuel Johnson said, " A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain". The hurt, discomfort and alienation of hiding from a need to talk about forgiveness, is beyond measure. It can last for generations in families that refuse to let go of the pain.

Thank you for being there and for being willing to let go. Thank you for bringing your children back to an understanding of what it truly means to live in grace. You are an example every day of God's love.


Karen Moore