A lesson in forgiveness

I’m not sure if anything else gives you more opportunities to fail and disappoint someone than marriage does, and because of this, Easter meant even more to me this year.

Before you get too concerned, Chance and I are doing just fine. Marriage has been great. But man, I’ve messed up a lot.

Not anything too major, just things such as:

• forgetting to make dinner on occasion (DiGiorno pizzas for the win on these nights!)

• burning cookies and catching an oven mitt on fire

• shrinking Chance’s pants, sweatshirts, and t-shirts in the dryer

• squishing one of Chance’s favorite hats and making the leather patch fall off

• ruining a pan while trying to make French toast

• misplacing or throwing away Chance’s specifically-placed papers in an attempt to organize

• being too organized and tidy that I get grumpy when things aren’t as such

• procrastinating stories I’m supposed to write, which, in the words of Chance, “may make me work better, but does not make me better to live with.”

I don’t doubt I’ll have many more things to add to this list by the end of this year — or even by the end of this month — but I celebrate the fact that Chance is as forgiving as he is and we can both laugh about these things now.

Well, maybe not so much on the hat, we haven’t laughed about that yet. But we will one day I’m sure.

I feel like every year God’s grace seems more amazing to me, and this year, that was even more so. Now that I’m married, the words Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:25-27 mean so much more:

“For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.”

Just last week, I washed Chance’s clothes and along with them, his work check. I turned it into paper crumbs.

I didn’t realize I had done this, but when he told me about it, he said, “I know this is my fault too, I should’ve checked my pockets, but you just washed my check.” And then when he asked for a new one, he said he was the one who did it. He didn’t blame me or get mad at me, he just simply made it right.

I know that’s a small, mostly inconsequential example, but when you’ve failed in front of the person you love and wish to honor most, time and time again, every single act of forgiveness matters. I hope I never take that for granted and am quick to extend that same grace in return.

And just as Chance has forgiven me time and time again, Christ has forgiven me even more. It's because of Him that I can live without guilt and shame, but instead, with great love and joy, and for that, I am even more grateful.