Last week, Tru started T-Ball.  The children were so sweet and innocent.  Just imagine three and four year olds all running for the same ball.  Melt my heart.It’s nine boys and one girl on his team.  And the little girl simply refused to participate.  She showed up a little late and the practicing had commenced.  She wasn’t wearing her purple shirt and matching baseball cap that the coach had dispersed just before.  I watched as her mom tried to convince her it was okay, she’d have fun, and to go join the boys.  And my heart melted for her in a familiar way.  I looked around to see if anyone else was experiencing what I was.  It didn’t seem so.It bothered me.  So I went over to the coach’s bag and pulled out the next shirt and ball cap.  As I turned to take it to the girl, the coach saw me and said he was about to do the same.  I handed it to the girl’s mom and then walked back to my place.  And I wondered, why did I do that?  And it hits me:  she was going un-noticed.  She was out of place.And my eyes filled with tears as I heard God say, “See, there is positive in this, too; to help others not feel like you did.”  You see, over the last couple of months I’ve allowed myself to accept and realize significant parts of my past for what they really were.  I understand that they have influenced my decisions and my behaviors.  And I’ve wondered, how can I learn from them and move forward?  (As in, how can I heal from them and not think of them again?)But maybe remembering and accepting parts of our past is just that...Something to remember, something to accept…and also something that we can use in life to be sensitive to others when they remind us of who we are and where we have been.  Doesn’t that feel more right than forgetting them?Since then, I have been more aware of the benefits of the painful parts of my past.  And I am grateful for those character traits that came out of those experiences.What about you?  What do you remember about your past that is still painful for you to remember today?  And how do you see God using those experiences to love on someone else?

Psalm 139: 14-16  “You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.  Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.”