Life is Too Short

 

The NEST is up and running and my phone was busy today!

It appears that the Junior High students didn’t magically outgrow all of their immaturity and difficulties over the summer.

I was asked to call a specific 8th grade student down after an office referral.

Knowing the student, I smiled knowing there would be a wild elaboration and dramatic story in her retelling and defense for her actions.

She didn’t disappoint.

She admitted she had aggressively confronted another student at dismissal.  

She had made her presence known and frightened the former schoolmate.

I always try to seek to understand so let her explain.

She overtly stated that she hadn’t had a choice.  The other girl was mean to her in 4th grade and she herself always needs to have the last word.

Four years ago she may have said something to her on the playground! They haven’t talked since.

Now.  Hurt is real.  

People are imperfect and unfortunately virtually all of us will be on the receiving end of unkind words.

But we can choose to replay them over and over again etching the scars ever deeper, or we can, as Jesus showed us, forgive and move forward.

I reassured her that she NEVER has to be that girl’s friend or hang out with her but she can’t go about causing drama and difficulties.  That is hurting her more than the other girl!

Elder Jeffrey R Holland cautioned, “ Life is too short to be spent nursing animosities or keeping a box score of offenses against us—you know, no runs, no hits, all errors. We don’t want God to remember our sins, so there is something fundamentally wrong in our relentlessly trying to remember those of others.  

When we have been hurt, undoubtedly God takes into account what wrongs were done to us and what provocations there are for our resentments, but clearly the more provocation there is and the more excuse we can find for our hurt, all the more reason for us to forgive and be delivered from the destructive hell of such poisonous venom and anger. “

My young friend listened and then conceded I had a point.  I gently asked her how much energy it was taking to walk around looking for people to hate.  

Her eyes dropped a bit and then with a gleam she smirked at me and said, “Maybe I am just not mature.”

I took a breath and returned her smile.

“Do you want to be treated as a young adult or a 4th grader?”

She giggled and said, “A young adult.”

“Then we have work to do, don’t we?”  I motioned for her to pickup her backpack.  “I’ll walk out with you today to make sure you don’t forget when you see her. Now….tell me about your weekend plans.”