*A Valuable Quality*

The great thing about being a teacher is you can teach the future generations the things that you personally think are important. I didn't realize it until this year, but one quality that I think is so valuable to have is to be easy to apologize to.

I am in the middle of 6 and 7 yr. old disagreements a lot and I have noticed something VERY clear about human nature. When we are hurt, we are usually very hard to apologize to. You know…someone realizes they are wrong and goes to make things right only to have that person cover their ears or mope around. I hate it when I go to say I'm sorry to someone and they are like: "Well, you should be!"…and really half the time I think they are wrong too and I'm just trying to throw the peace sign up and move on with life. What's the point of staying in a fight, anyway? I was just trying to make amends and so and so is just making me mad ALL. OVER. AGAIN. There's nothing worse. Both people are at least a little wrong in most fights anyway! Doesn't the terrible forgiver know that?

"You need to work on being easier to apologize to." I find myself saying all the time at school. I have already seen how friendships get stronger and how people are able to mend if they are willing to do this very hard thing. The easier you are on people who come to apologize, the better things will be. And probably the more apologizes you will get! If nobody ever says they are sorry to you, maybe look at how you react when people come to you for forgiveness. Are you Patty Pouty Pants? A Run Away Reita? A Pay For It Patrick? How about a Greggie Grudge A lot? Don't let that be you.

The fact of the matter is…the bible calls us to forgive and forget. I know some things are so serious that you need to figure out if you need to separate yourself from that situation for intense purposes, but if it's not life altering…we need to forgive and put it behind us like it never happened. I personally like to think the best about people and I don't just assume the worst when we fight and it would be nice if people would do the same for me. We need to move on and not make a fuss about it until we believe that person has paid their dues in full. It's not easy…but it's right.

I try to be very, VERY easy to apologize to because I personally love apologies, haha. They make me feel so much better and if a person actually humbles themselves and does that, it's worth being nice to them for it. Most people wouldn't even say they were sorry, so the fact that someone does shows something good about them.

So…. are we being easy to apologize to or are we covering our ears? Do we not let that person play with us once they've hurt our feelings or are we willing to move on? Do we run from anyone who has hurt us and aren't willing to listen to what they have to say? Do we change our opinions about people if we have a fight? Why would we do this if we know that we ourselves have a sin nature, too? What's so shocking about someone else having one? A fight does not change the good sides of a person. They can still make great monkey bar partners…if only we will let them.