Sometimes You Mess Up

Sometimes you mess up, even when you are trying to help. This was brought home to me recently when trying to help my mom and step dad. It has become increasingly clear that they need help so I planned to make a trip to do just that. I actually like house cleaning and organizing especially compared to bill organizing and garage cleaning which my two brothers were going to do. Unfortunately, this would prove to be my undoing. I arrived a woman on a mission. I worked for two days going through every cabinet, closet, box, bag, shelf, and floor space, looking for items to donate or throw away. You can see where this is going. At the end of the second day, the house looked great, better than it had in years! My mom was grateful and happy. I was happy. All was right with the world. We celebrated by going to Whataburger!

This happiness would last until the next morning when she couldn't find where we put her cereal, her hand towels or her white bench. The calls kept coming after I returned to Atlanta until one ended with her hanging up on me in a horrible huff demanding that I replace her white bench. This was not good, not good at all. I can't ever remember my mother hanging up on me!

The only thing I could do was apologize, profusely. I decided to do this in letter form so she couldn't hang up again. All I could do now was pray and wait. How could I be so insensitive?  This was the sort of thing that brings families down, donating hand towels that incidentally belonged to my grandmother.

Well, the story has a happy ending. I received in the mail the most precious letter from my mom telling me that she could never stay mad at me, that our relationship was more important than things. In the letter she quoted the song, "Everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before" that she told me she learned from my grandmother. I realized forgiveness is just about the best gift you can give or receive from another person. I do think I'll skip the organizing on my next trip and just take her to Whataburger!