A mother must teach forgiveness.

During the holidays, it can become apparent, there are issues between relatives. As a young girl, I remember when one of my siblings was going through a difficult divorce. There had been arguments and such. My sister in law had said horrible things about my brother and it had taken the air and almost the life from my mother. BUT, there were two precious boys, grandchildren, in the midst of this hate, frustration and chaos. I heard the phone call made by my mother. I heard her explain how much these two boys meant to her, regardless of what was going on between the adults, she wanted a relationship with her grandsons. She offered the love of a grandmother that could make a bridge across these troubled waters. My mother made many calls to the estranged sister in law. She made it clear, that while the love between her son and daughter in law was over, there was no room to doubt the love for her grandchildren. As Christmas rolled around and the mess of hurt feelings, arguments, silent treatments, anger, accusations seemed to overtake the meaning of HOPE, my mother sat at her famous round kitchen table and prayed for all this STUFF to get out of the way so she could be with her grandchildren. I witnessed her unselfish, undying love, regardless of who had done what and what had been done to her. SHE offered the peace offering. SHE was big enough to be small. Maybe your Christmas was stressful, awkward, frustrating, confusing. Maybe you had to look at a face that has caused you pain. Bend your pride and your knees and ask for help. Overcome anger with love. Cover raw edges with a kind word. Offer forgiveness, even if one does not ask. Build a bridge so others can find their way across troubled waters. FORGIVE as He forgave me, you, us, others. Those two boys were at our home that Christmas and they still come. You see, they ran across that bridge as young boys, now they can walk that familiar path, home for the holidays