Time for Forgiveness and to Get the Back Story before Judging Other’s Words

 

I admit I have never seen The Sound of Music. Why? Because when I was supposed to go with my family as a child, I was being punished and my mom didn’t allow me to go. So I had to stay home and lay in my bottom bunk while they went. I knew that my mom was disappointed in me for my actions. It was probably when I was little.  But I still feel at seventy that I am not deserving of watching this famous film. 

Last night, a lifelong friend who knows this history told me at our brewery when the movie came up in conversation emphatically that I need to watch it. Her exact words were and I quote….Your mom is dead you can watch The Sound of Music. Needless to say, the other people at the table were shocked. That is because Julie and I knew my story but they did not. Out of context that sounds not only bizarre but messed up. 

So I trust my friend that it is time to sit my butt down and not only watch The Sound of Music but enjoy it quilt free. Not only because my mom would approve but because I need to accept her forgiveness and stop punishing myself for something I did when I was a kid. But because I need to forgive myself for my bad choice back then. I shouldn’t have done it but it is over and time to let it go. Thank you Julie for remembering my heartache and for knowing me so well. We didn’t fully explain to the others but enough for they got it and the conversation moved on. 

 The lessons are clear. Forgive yourself for past mistakes and don’t always judge what you hear. You should clarify if something seems off. Isn’t life easier when we are slow to be offended and when we are capable of forgiveness, not just for others but especially for ourselves?  How can we love others as ourselves if we are holding onto grudges over our past? Let it go……..that is Julie’s best advice. She also is aware that I chose not to go to a musical of The Sound of Music with my kids and grandkids in the next couple of weeks and why I am not attending. You see Julie is my friend but also her daughter and my son married and are raising our four grandkiddos. We are both traveling to Washington to attend our shared granddaughter’s high school graduation. Embracing forgiveness for myself would have allowed me to fully participate in all the festivities. Hmmmmm Julie is a wise woman, friend, mother, and grandma. Who knew? Maybe I should have listened years ago.

In Him,

Joyful

5-23-26