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Forget-me-not by bill_canada |
“Well, no – except that – do you remember the discussion we had where I asked you to stop buying books and you agreed?”
My face fell. I had forgotten that conversation.
He was right. We had agreed not to buy any more books just at the moment. After the last belletristic bundle (Dr Seuss! How can you say no to Dr Seuss?) I had promised to restrain my trigger-happy internet-purchasing finger. I had promised – and then I had forgotten.
We are a forgetful people.
Peter denied Jesus three times, and then wept when the cockerel crowed. He had forgotten the loyalty he had sworn just hours before.
In the time of the Judges they forgot about the Lord, and served other Gods. God executed judgement; they remembered. Then they forgot that they had forgotten, and did it all again.
We are a forgetful people.
We are a forgetful people.
“No, darling. You’re not allowed to touch.”
He closes the door and plays elsewhere. Two minutes later he returns; opens the cupboard, reaches inside.
“No darling – what did Mummy say?”
I don’t get too cross. We are a forgetful people.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more” (Jer 31:34)
For those days when I am more aware than usual of my wickedness, my fallenness, my foolishness, it is a relief to know that God is not sitting keeping score of my failures. He has promised to forgive them and wipe them out. He has forgotten them.
We are a forgetful people. We need a forgetful God.
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Tanya Marlow |
Tanya Marlow is passionate about teaching the Bible, answering tricky questions of faith and training others to do this. In the past she has done this in student and church ministry and as Associate Director of the Peninsula Gospel Partnership (PGP) Bible training course. Right now she does it by reading Bible stories to her toddler, as she learns what it means to be a stay-at-home mum who is also housebound with severe M.E. Her blog is called Thorns and Gold: on the Bible, illness, emotions, life.
I forget that I must not talk negatively about my kids to other people. That is, when I am irritated, I tend to discuss it with one or the other of my grown children, or close friends. This puts (esp. the child I talk to) in a very awkward position regarding her/his sibling. My desire for their future is that they be close and bear no grudges, especially not mine. But, I persist in grumbling about irritations that repeatedly come around. I'm thankful that my kids respond to me by asking, “Have you discussed this with ____?” I often have, but it is more difficult with the in-law children. The seeds of discord were planted long ago, and I realize that when I discuss my discontent with one, it is a short jump to wonder, “what does she say about me and mine?”. I deserve it, too. I don't do this (very much) outside my family.