The other day, I was waiting on the sidewalk for the walk sign to light up so I could continue my errands. When the signal changed, I stepped off the curb. A car turning left from the one-way street on my right just missed me as it cut the corner. I jumped backwards to avoid being pumped. As it zipped by I read the sticker on its bumper and laughed. It said, “Safety is my goal.”

That driver fell short of his goal with his in-a-rush turn. I think I’m that way sometimes. I set a goal and then the busyness of daily life distracts me. My priorities get mixed up in a moment of chaos.

It was like that one day this week. My goal is usually to make others feel positive about their selves. But I was fatigued and feeling bad so I was short with someone who wasn’t being polite. He thought it was a game and I went from crappy to grouchy to rude. And I didn’t even care I hurt his feelings, because mine were pretty irritated.

What I wanted to do was smile and ask how he was doing, since he started receiving hospice care. But I allowed my unpleasant attitude to take over. I laughed at a guy who almost ran over me but become angry at a man who simply took food before it was ready to serve to everyone. I can relate to Paul in Romans 7:15, “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

Have you ever looked back at an encounter and wished you had said something differently? What did you do to make amends?

1 Comment. Leave new

Nancey, thanks for the honesty. When I blow it and lose my cool, I usually go back and apologize for the edge in my voice or my impatience. I wish I could always get it right the first time, but the next best thing is to be real and ask for grace. I find the hardest person to forgive is myself, and I need to appropriate grace for myself along the way.

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