Seeking Saturday: Forgiveness is Contagious – A Testimony of Peace

Happy Seeking Saturday!

Two weeks ago, I shared a post – Completely Broken – The Amazing Story of ‘Coach’ Gary Weller.  If you’ve read it, you’ll recall the amazing story of faith, persistence and determination of a former high school football coach who was intentionally run over while jogging.  If you didn’t get a chance to read it, please do; it will stir your soul.

As I wrote on the difficult topic of forgiveness this week, I began to see how much of a struggle it is for so many of us.  From the questions I received to the hesitant responses, I realized forgiveness, or lack thereof, is a real battle.

I could see that my own struggles with forgiveness were not unique to myself.

About mid-day on Wednesday, as I was wrestling with this, I was blessed with these words from Gary’s wife, Cathy Weller.  As soon as I read them, I was so touched and moved by her testimony that I asked her if I could share them with you.  Just like her husband, she was very gracious.

This showed me that no matter where I was, I was not alone…

Matt,

Thank you so much for the beautiful story you wrote about Gary.  

I’ll have to admit that I had a lot of anger and questions for God.  Gary is my life partner and how someone could hurt another person deliberately and cause total devastation for our family was beyond me.  

For the six weeks that I sat in the ICU waiting room I was surrounded by families with their own tragedies.  Half of the room was filled with that same anger that I had.  They had hearts full of fear and hate and Jesus was nowhere near.  

The other half was a group of people with some sort of hope and peace no matter what the outcome.  I decided I didn’t want to be full of bitterness, I wanted to be part of the other group who had peace.  My heart started to change and my prayers changed too.  

When Gary finally started to speak I knew immediately that he was not filled with anger.  He was full of determination, and all the things that I had worried about like, how was this guy going to deal with the physical disabilities when he’d always been a jock, were just a waste of time.  He fought to get better and didn’t get that anger in his heart.  

I believe that forgiveness is contagious.

The more Gary healed and had peace that comes with forgiveness the more his family and the people around him healed.  Kind of like he could forgive why couldn’t we?

I believe that is what Jesus intended for us to do.  

Until you do, the peace is absent and the anger consumes us.

Gary is an incredible example of God using something horrible for His glory and His kingdom.  It changed our lives, and brought us to The Lord more powerfully than anything could have.  He is an incredible man and I am blessed to have been married to him for the last 43 years.

Thanks for sharing his story.

WOW!

 

 A few verses for us as we walk our roads today:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you. – Colossians 3:12-13

…forgive your brother or sister from your heart. – Matthew 18:35

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. – Matthew 6:14 (Lord’s Prayer)

Forgiveness isn’t easy, it’s necessary!

What are your stories of forgiveness?

MH

A special thank you to Cathy Weller for letting me share her beautiful words.  Her testimony stands as a tribute to her faith and are a blessing to all of us.  Please feel free to leave and questions and comments below for Cathy or myself as she will be able to respond.

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2 Responses to Seeking Saturday: Forgiveness is Contagious – A Testimony of Peace

  1. Debbie November 2, 2013 at 9:36 pm #

    Awesome!!

  2. Vallery Coleman Shoe November 3, 2013 at 12:31 am #

    Beautiful how forgiveness can heal our hearts! Coach and Cathy Weller are very God loving people that have personally witnessed the power of God! Thanks for the blogg!