Jonathots Daily Blog
(2677)
XVII.
I confess so I can heal.
If I deny, I remain sick.
They had been married just four months when their pastor asked them if they were willing to allow a traveling family to come and use their condo while they were away on vacation.
Being good Christians, they agreed.
We were that vagabond family–my wife, three children and myself, touring through the area, being blessed by the courtesy and hospitality of strangers.
The condo was beautiful–a blessed departure from the B-rated motels where we usually found ourselves. So we enjoyed the week.
There was even a downstairs area which had a pinball machine and a ping-pong table.
About three days after our departure from this lovely facility, I received a phone call. It was the husband of the pair who had so graciously provided us lodging, asking what had happened to the ping-pong table.
I explained to him that I had never even gone downstairs during the visit, and he shared with me that it was broken.
I told him that I was unaware but I would check with my sons and find out what happened.
I did. Both of my older boys denied any knowledge of the incident.
This placed me in a dilemma. Should I believe my children or should I take the word of these hospitable souls?
I got on the phone, called the gentleman back and told him my boys had not broken the table.
God, I felt noble.
I felt like “Dad of the Year,” sticking up for my children.
Obviously, the fellow insisted, causing me to dig my heels in, which led to an emotional tug of war followed by an all-out bitter fight.
Yet I insisted there was no way that my sons would lie to me about the situation.
As my original benefactor hung up the phone, he said, “Well, we’ll never do this again.”
Let me tell you–good kids don’t always tell the truth; they just eventually tell the truth.
I had good kids, but it was two weeks later, after a church service, when one of my sons tearfully admitted they had broken the ping-pong table, but were so embarrassed that they didn’t know what to do.
I was flushed with anger with a side order of foolishness.
I couldn’t decide what was the best path for handling the matter, so I did nothing.
The young couple who had been so open-minded never received my apology or an admission of guilt from my child. I convinced myself that the damage had already been done and could not be mended.
It was stupid.
It proved what a baby I was instead of the mature man I envisioned myself to be.
And because of my original stubbornness and the absence of a heart-felt apology, that young couple were led to believe that openness is a dangerous pit instead of the entrance to God.
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