Recently, a friend of Melissa's started telling kids in her class that she didn't like Melissa. I asked Melissa what she was doing about it, and she told me that she was playing with a new friend instead. When I asked if she could make a change that would help her and the girl to become friends again, it started a conversation about forgiveness and backpacks.
When people hurt our feelings, it's like putting a rock in our backpack. The longer we carry the rock, the heavier our backpack feels. The person who hurt our feelings may be completely unaware they have done anything wrong. They are not feeling any pain, yet we are really hurting. We think about the pain all the time, and we feel worse and worse. It feels like our backpack is getting heavier and heavier. Sometimes we even take it out on other people and make them feel bad, too.
We can stop that cycle if we simply choose to forgive--to take that rock out of our backpack. Free from the weight of the rock, we can move forward and forget about it.
This morning we tested out this theory. I don't know what happened, but Melissa hurt Megan's feelings, and she chose not to apologize. Megan ran into the other room and sobbed and sobbed. When Daddy went to comfort her, he talked to her about forgiveness. I wasn't really part of the conversation, but I reminded her about carrying a rock in her backpack.
Within a few minutes, Megan was laughing. She jumped up and said, "I'm okay Mom. I took the rock out of my backpack." Then she went to her real backpack and took out a pebble. There really was a rock in her backpack!
Girls, I want you to know how important it is to forgive others--even when they don't apologize or realize that they have hurt you. When we don't forgive, our pain gets worse and worse. Once we let go, and forgive, Heavenly Father will help us get rid of the pain and move forward.
Don't forget to empty your backpacks regularly!
Love, Mom
P.S. Sometimes we hurt someone's feelings. Guess what? That puts rocks in our backpacks, too. When that happens, it's time to say we're sorry.
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