No movies for you!

I'm trying to prepare a sacrament talk about forgiveness. I feel safe in telling you all this because there is no chance you will have to hear it. I'll be speaking with my husband in the Hillsboro Branch next week. Anyway, I'm only preparing my thoughts right now. I guess I'll have to buckle down this week and get something on paper. But I did just have a moment of clarity I can share.

My husband wanted to take us to the movies tonight. Evan Almighty is playing at the dollar movie and I've expressed interest, but frankly, I'm too busy tonight to leave the house. So I suggested he take the kids, minus Emma. Shrek the Third is also playing, and the kids cheered at hearing that news. Even Emma was excited--until I told her she wasn't going to go. Fear filled her face, immediate crying, etc., etc., etc. My husband was going to insist on taking her until I reminded him of our recent venture to the drive-in theater. We thought it would be all right since our two year old would be contained inside the van. We were wrong. After I jogged his memory, Dad agreed to leave Emma. The kids jumped in the van and they took off. Meanwhile I am holding Emma, saying kind things, and making a deal that after her third birthday, maybe we would take her to the movies again, but right now she was just too young. A little screaming, a little hugging, and then I went to nickjr.com. Remember--she loves Dora. I started her on a game, and we went peacefully about doing our business.

Now for the moment of clarity. Why did Emma stop her crying and her fit so quickly? Why did she quickly "forgive" her dad for leaving her? Perhaps it was because she knew there was nothing she could do to change the situation, so she decided to accept the fact that she was home, and try to have a good time anyway. Ya, probably not, but maybe that's what we should do. When we are offended, or hurt by someone else, we should quickly realize that there is nothing we can do to change what happened, but we can change our attitude about it. The key to happiness here is to quickly forgive. Not to cry and throw a fit for an hour first, but to do it immediately. Emma and I have had a pleasant evening so far, and I've already finished one project (and obviously I've had time to blog--a bonus). There is a church in Waco that I passed today with a marquee that says "No matter what you have done in the past, you have a spotless future." I don't think I'll quote another church's marquee in my talk, but I might try to develop that thought as it relates to forgiveness. We'll see...