Randy's Comments

Pounding In and Pulling Out Nails

When my daughter was confronted with the fact that she had hurt
another child with a mean comment, she cried and wanted to apologize.
That was a good thing, but I wanted her to know an apology can't
always make things better.
I told her the parable of Will, a nine-year-old whose father
abandoned his mom two years earlier. Will was angry, and he often
would lash out at others with hurtful words. He once told his mom, "I
see why Dad left you!"
Unable to cope with his outbursts, she sent Will to spend the summer
with his grandparents.
His grandfather's strategy to help Will learn self control every time
he said a mean thing was to make him go into the garage and pound a
two-inch-long nail into a 4x4 board. He couldn't return until the
nail was all the way in.
For a small boy, this was a major task. After about ten trips to the
garage, Will began to be more cautious about his words. Eventually,
he even apologized for all the bad things he'd said.
That's when his grandmother came in. She made him bring in the board
filled with nails and told him to pull them all out. This was even
harder than pounding them in. After a huge struggle, he did it.
His grandmother hugged him and said, "I appreciate your apology and,
of course, I forgive you because I love you. But I want you to know
an apology is like pulling out one of those nails. Look at the board.
The holes are still there. The board will never be the same. I know
your dad put a hole in you, but please don't put holes in other
people. You`re better than that."

Randy, welcome to Guardians Prayer Warrior! Many blessings on your path and walk with Christ! You will find many others who would love to share that path with you here! Soar my friend, Soar! 1 Cor. 15:1-4