I'm sorry

I lifted her up onto the potty, short as she is. As I sat her down she said, "sorry, Mommy." I thought she thought she had hurt me, and I said, "It's okay, Baby, you didn't hurt me." Then she grimaced a little and started rubbing her chest, and I realized that I had hurt her. Feeling bad that I must have squeezed her a little too hard when lifting her up, I told her that I was sorry.

This is a very common thing for her. Whether she is the one doing the hurting or the one being hurt, she always says, "sorry." This is even how we realize sometimes that we have hurt her, like when I lifted her onto the potty.

I started thinking about how willing she is to say, "I'm sorry," even when she doesn't need to, and how unwilling adults tend to be, especially when they do need to. As adults, when we get into an argument with someone, whether family or friend, we rarely are the first to apologize. We keep a list of our hurts, whether intentionally or not, and we wait for the other person to fess up and apologize before we offer our apology or forgiveness.

How much better would it make our relationships if, when faced with a hurt, we would be the first to bring up what is going on, talk it through, and apologize for our part in the problem? Even in cases where we have been unjustly wronged, with Christ's help we can still take steps toward reconciling that relationship. Instead of wasting days, or weeks, or years holding tightly to that hurt, we need to take the initiative to bring healing to that relationship if we can.

If a two year old can manage it, shouldn't we?