November 6

I was sitting at Starbucks this morning doing my usual Weekday Morning Thing when Stacy messaged me to see if I wanted to walk around the park. I needed the steps and I'm always down for some talk-time, so I packed up my computer and headed out. The funny thing is, that message and the walk that followed wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in the deep, deep south of happening two years ago.

Lest that sounds like a strange proclamation, I'll step back and explain. Abby and Stacy's daughter were really, really good friends in elementary school. Inseparable, in fact. Then there was a falling out, and us moms got involved. And it got really, really heated really, really quickly. And then poof, the girls were no longer buddies and Stacy and I no longer spoke. I wasn't proud of myself at the time, but I was in a bad place and didn't handle the situation well at all. Words are, after all, like the proverbial genie released from the bottle after thousands of years in captivity: once they're out, they're out. And mine were most definitely out.

Anyway, at some point a few years later, I think we both started to feel badly over what happened, and slowly, gradually, we both apologized for our roles in the drama that had transpired. And we moved forward. So today, I'm thankful for the gift of grace, which allows us to freely forgive one another for making mistakes. And for this tangible, real-life reminder that redemption is always a possibility.