When An Apology Makes You Drop Your Jaw and Your Cake

If there’s one place that’s set up to either reject or redeem you, it’s a high school reunion.

By and large, I had a marvelous high school experience. But one blemish that tarnished those years came from picked over middle school baggage that looked something like this:

In 7th grade, Kristen becomes good friends with Girl. Girl and Kristen burn through paper passing notes in class and burn through free time hanging out after class. Some time later, Girl climbs the social ladder faster than Kristen. Girl forgets she knows Kristen altogether.

The scenario above was nothing beyond normal teen girl drama, certainly not worthy of the six o’clock news {thankfully}. And while it broke my heart at the time, more friends – good friends – crossed my path and healed my heart.

So years later on a sticky July evening, two of those good friends named Katie and Rhonda make the twenty minute drive southeast of town to my parents house, kindly offering to give me a ride to our ten year high school reunion. And while my red and carmel colored dress brings me confidence on the outside, my insides feel anything but. Because no matter how much confidence I’ve gained in ten years, my inner eighteen year old still wants to know:

Will they like me?

Will I be rejected or redeemed?

We arrive at the reunion, a restaurant off Grand Ave. When I pull open the door to my past, I am immediately put to ease by old friends. So when I stand after dinner – still laughing like a crazy person over Chris and Tim’s antics – and walk over to the dessert tray,  I’m shocked to see Girl. Our eyes meet and I’m wondering it still again:

Will I be rejected or redeemed?

She makes her way to me first and I remember how in high school, she won something along the lines of Most Beautiful Girl of the senior class. She’s still gorgeous.

We hug and talk about husbands and hometowns, births and babies. And as I pick up a plate of lemon cake, she says it right out of the blue:

“Kristen, I regret a lot of things about back then. I just want you to know I’m thankful for you.”

I may have dropped my cake.

I know I dropped my jaw.

And all I could do was hug her.

No, she didn’t say I’m sorry. She didn’t ask me to forgive her. But the point of an apology is to model Christ: to redeem, to make new. With the offering of her words, she did this.

“I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love! And so now I’ll start over with you and build you up again…”

~ Jeremiah 31:3 {the MSG}

No one’s perfect and I fall as short as the rest but this I know:

A genuine apology rebuilds charred, burnt bridges.

A genuine apology swings open the locked cage doors.

A genuine apology laces broken hearts back together.

A genuine apology is a gateway to shocking, glorious redemption and a fresh start.

God’s grace redeems and yes, even at high school reunions, God uses an apology to reach down from heaven and relay redemption. He grabs almost forgotten wounds from middle school and brings those back around for good, glorious good.

And I am thankful.

If you are sharing your own surprise mistake-turned-blessing story today, here are some things to remember:

1. New to link-up’s or have questions? Read this first.

2. Since we all dig surprises, please surprise another writer by leaving a comment on her post *or* by giving her a facebook shout-out or tweet. Use the hashtag: #outoftheblue. 

3. Be sure to include the out of the blue banner {see below} in your post or link back to Chasing Blue Skies so your readers can join in the fun. That way, we can all easily find each other.

Important: Because I’m taking spring break off to hang with the fam, there will be no out of the blue next week. So, our prompt for Thursday, April 4th will be confidence. Has the Lord surprised you with how much confidence He has in you? Has He given you an unexpected boost of confidence enabling you to climb a mountain you wouldn’t have dreamt possible? Did you ever surprise yourself with how confidently you handled a situation? Share your story!  I look forward to reading how God used confidence to build your faith, increase your joy, or make a difference in your life or those in your circle of influence!

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