“In our lives the darkest times, the days that are bleak and black, add depth to every other experience. Like the dark bits of color in a mosaic, they add the contrast and shadows that give beauty to the whole, but they are just a small part of the big picture.”
~ Amy Grant~
Mosaic: Pieces of My Life so Far
A couple of years back I watched and listened in disbelief as I heard my mom sincerely apologizing to my brother for all of her failures in what was a feeble attempt to raise him. She poured out her heart through tears of pain to the grown son whose childhood she had so blindly missed out on. He had been abused, neglected, undisciplined and had hundreds of dollars stolen from his savings account, an account that my sister and I had set up at the suggestion of my grandfather. At 14 he’d had enough. He had been hit upside the head with a crutch when he asked for some of his money to be returned so that he could go and buy some school clothes. I have never seen a child cry like that before. He was so heartbroken. He was so angry. He wanted a life. With the help of my sister and my grandfather, we packed up his things and moved him into my home.
So now, after a great holiday meal, she begged her son, who was now 21 years old and a veteran of war, to forgive her for all of her inadequacies. After taking in a deep breath betweens sobs, she held her hand out to him and said, “Please Ryan. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
I had never been so proud of him as I was in the very next moment because of the heartfelt words that come from the depth of his soul. He grabbed her hand and said, “I forgive you. You don’t have to be sorry anymore. I didn’t like what we went through but I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it hadn’t happened and I actually like who I am now. So, thank you.”
He meant it. He opened my eyes. He showed me that I too could be thankful for things in my life that looked bad but in the end painted a beautiful picture.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”
(Rom. 8:28 KJV).
God says that everything is a blessing or a curse. I will take even the worst things in life as a blessing rather than a curse. It really is our choice. It is all about how you view the mosaic… piece by piece or as a masterpiece.
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow Amy – your brother’s forgiveness is a poignant example of how to respond to the black moments of life.
So very true. All of our lives help to shape us for good or for bad. I personally had and have lots of forgiving to do for wrongs done over the years and while there are little things that still trip me up regularly, I have forgiven the biggest offenses and begun to heal because of it. God’s ways are not always meant to be understood by the human mind, we just have to trust that he has a greater plan that we can’t see.
After being born of incest and finding out about it at 18, that was a hard lesson for me to learn because I felt at that point, less than human, utterly worthless, but Praise God I am now very aware that I am loved and that I am an awesome creation of God’s and most precious to him.
Thanks for the great reflection Amy.
i’m working on forgiveness everyday.
What a beautiful story of forgiveness. May God continue with His love to heal all wounds…
Wow! What a touching reflection on today’s quote. Thank you!
God bless!
What a wonderful story of forgiveness. thanks for sharing it. and thanks for stopping by and visiting my little corner of the web.
Amy, what a powerful testimony to the grace of God and the truth of Romans 8:28. Thanks for sharing such a tender story as an example of this week’s quote.
Blessings,extravagantly!
Such an awesome post.
What a great spirit your brother has. He truly showed the love of Christ to your mother and I pray that she saw Christ at the moment for it is only with His help that either of them could truly make such progress in their lives to be so humble and loving.
Oh my name him Joshua! “”As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result…” Genesis 50:20
Wow very powerful words. And so true, I look back at all the ugly things in my life, things I did wrong. God is so faithful and so powerful that he can turn ugliness in to beauty.
Thank you for sharing that story.
Forgiveness is so powerful. At that point healing begins.
amanda
Amy,
You have LOTS of great things going on over here! I’m finally back home and sitting down to check in on a few of my favorite blogs! I love the blog designs you’ve created. I see you must be starting a business! YOU GO GIRL!
Wow! What a great testimony. Blessings to you for sharing it (and to your brother for providing an example of how to forgive.)
What an awesome story. I’ve read that true forgiveness comes when you can see the benefits of those difficult times. God’s in the process of working that through in me. I think the hardest part right now is having to admit what has happened to me instead of denying it. I sure hope he’ll bring me to the point of being able to forgive as wholely as your brother has.
What a precious story! It so beautifully represents the forgiveness that Christ offers us, in spite of our sins.
Thanks, Amy!
Dianne
Oh man, wonderful and thought provoking can’t even describe that adequately.
What a great start in the blessing and healing of their relationship…