Recently, I was speaking with a friend who is having problems forgiving someone for a wrong to do him. We have all been there. His reasons for his inability or refusal to forgive (for we all have the ability to forgive) seem to be valid TO HIM. After speaking with him, I received this in another email. Some people may say receiving this was just “happenstance” well I choose to believe it was God. I hope this some how helps him and in turn may help you as well.

The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

“Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!”

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girls upturned face.

“A dollar ninety-five. That is almost $2.00 If you really want them, I’ll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday is only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma.”

Kelly is the average 6th grade female. She has an A/B average, wears glasses, has braces upon her teeth and keeps mostly to herself. She has friends of course, but usually she keeps to herself. She doesn’t seem to be much of an athlete. She doesn’t always end up last, but she is not the first in her class either.

Bob and I were standing outside talking. It wasn’t the “typical” male talk but it was typical of our conversations. We stood gazing at the beauty of Pikes Peak, we’ve done this hundreds of times before. The sun had just tucked itself behind the Peak and the colors streaming toward the sky were magnificent. “How could someone not believe in God when they see such beauty?” Spoke Bob. I remained silent in awe of the view.

It was an eerie night. The sky was clear, the moon glaring and the stars twinkling. The cool wintry breeze delicately stung the open skin of my face. The snow had melted away and the roads were relatively clear. The truth is that I should not have been driving at all. I was tired, very tired from a long days work. I fought to keep my labored eyes open. My find was focused upon my body being under my warm quilt on my bed. But there was one problem, I just could not shake this craving for ice cream. It sounds silly I know, but all day all I wanted was ice cream, vanilla ice cream, Breyer’s vanilla ice cream. As I drove closer and closer to home that craving intensified, I could picture the ice cream sitting on the top shelf of my refrigerator freezer calling out to me. I pictured myself grabbing it and eating not some of it, but all of it. As I pulled into my driveway my heart rate increased, my respiration became shallow and fast, my palms became clammy and I began to sweat. My body demanded that ice cream. But to my surprise when I opened my freezer door I noticed all the ice cream, my ice cream, was gone. And that is how I came to be in my car at 10:30 at night on my way to the store to satisfy my craving.

Tom was a busy man. He worked 10 hours a day and also had a part time job. Being happily married for 8 years, Tom and his wife Lacy have been blessed with 2 beautiful children Michael 7 and Sarah 4. Tom adored his children, at least that is what he kept reminding himself to justify why he spent so much time away from home. Bills had to be paid, the house note was due, two cars, utilities, numerous credit cards, college student loans and on top of that they had not even begun to invest towards their retirements or the children’s college education.

“Daddy!” A loud voice screamed in the middle of the night, “Daddy!”. Quickly I jumped from my bed and ran to her bedside. A small child was lying there under her blanket and crying. I took her in my arms “Daddy, I had a dream.” She uttered while sobbing. I held her while attempting to speak words of comfort. “What did you dream about baby?” I asked. And here is where her story begins.