I noticed him right away yesterday morning as I entered into the sanctuary of my church here in Hutchinson. He was sitting way towards the back, on the outside edge of the pew. A quiet young man, dressed in a nice black shirt and pants, head down most of the time as if he were reading something over. I didn't recognize him at all and I had no idea who he might even be, but I and the rest of my fellow parishioners were soon to find out.
As the service was ready to begin, our pastor gave the usual opening announcements and then said that there was a young man amongst us in the pews who needed some time to share a few words with us. With that being said, he called the young man named Josh, up to the front of the church. What happened next was a "life lesson" preached to us by a young teenage boy who was there in church on that Sunday morning to apologize for something he had done, harm caused by his own actions. And as he spoke, it was so quiet that you could definitely have heard the proverbial "pin drop".
His comments were plain and simple, very straight to the point of the matter. Josh was there to make amends for damage he had done one evening when he broke into our church this past summer. He was there to say the truth about his part in it and to tell us how very sorry he was that he had done it in the first place. Josh made absolutely no excuses for what he did, never giving the blame to anyone or anything else. That young man owned it! I could tell by the way his words came out, that his apology was sincere and truly how much courage it would have taken to admit his guilt in front of all of the people sitting in the very church he had caused destruction in. Yet he did....
As I listened to him with my eyes set straight upon his face, I had to work hard to fight back my own emotions. Gazing around, I could tell that I wasn't the only one who was moved by his admission of wrong doing. There seemed to be a whole lot of reaching for Kleenix among the congregation and it wasn't because we all had colds. Josh spoke probably no more than 3 minutes and when he was done, the congregation did the unthinkable (perhaps to some in the Missouri-Synod Lutheran world)~ they loudly applauded him for taking responsibility and ownership of his actions that night and I was glad.
As I watched that young man walk back down the aisle, I noticed something about him, and the something was this~he could have been my son or your son or for that matter it could have been me or you. Who among us has been able to get through this life without making our own share of mistakes along the way? Although I know how much damage he did and how much work it took to get everything taken care of, it's time to forgive him, hope and pray he learned a lesson from it all, and move on. As far as I'm concerned, that young man grew about a foot in height today in just one short span of time. I believe it was "character building", "character refining" at its best and I was thankful to have been a witness to it.
If you are like me, then you have been the recipient of a lot of "second, third, or even fourth" chances in this life. We may have said something to hurt someone's feelings, broken a law, did poorly on a test, or had a bad day in regards to our job performance. Without the countless do-overs that we all daily receive, life would be dismal at best. I'm thankful he came and brought the gift that he did to all of us this past Sunday morning. Josh has a long road ahead of him in life and by his own admittance yesterday as he stood at the lectern, he knows it will not be even close to being remotely easy.
Borrowing the words from a most wonderful song, "If Today Was Your Last Day", "That first step you take is the longest stride.", the young man called Josh did the right thing yesterday. As a teacher and a mom of 3 children of my own, my hope and prayer for him would be that he "make it" successfully in this life. I like what our pastor prayed in the prayer for him yesterday~that God would create a "hedge of protection" around this young man and that he would continue to make the very best of choices in life. As for me, I wish him the best~it was a blessing to witness.
Have a wonderful Monday morning all of you out there! Today is the last Monday in the month of November~the 26th to be exact. A great day for a do-over and a great day to be alive in.
Proof that even a cat deserves a do-over or two or three~Oblio, our round-head cat doing what she does best this time of year.
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