She Really Said That

There are certain things that happen to other people that we pray will never happen to us.  This time it did happen - to my mother.  You must know my mom is the sweetest kindest person you could meet.  She always thinks about the other person and puts others needs ahead of her own.  She is the type of person that Solomon meant when he said, "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." (Proverbs 31:10).  But I don't care how Christlike you are, there are bound to be times you mess up.

For my mother that time was in church of all places.  The speaker chosen for that week was a lady neighbor that my mother knew, but not extremely well.  Apparently she was a good speaker, but there was something about her dress that was a little unusual.  My mother turned to my father and said, "She really wore that?"  The man in front of my mom turned around and looked at her.   Turns out the speaker's family was sitting in front of her, and the man was the speaker's husband.

That instant is seared in my mother's memory.  It is one of the few things she truly regrets.  Another Proverb: "The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly." (Proverbs 18:8).  To this day she won't tell who the speaker was, or why there was something wrong with her dress.  She says that awful experience taught her the proverb "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." (Proverbs 21:23).  She learned never to criticize anyone for any reason.

If you know my mother you won't be surprised if I tell I cannot remember her ever saying something negative about another person.  I believe this is what repentance truly means.  I want to try to emulate that so that I can avoid the taste of foot for years to come.  I am impressed that my mother's experience taught her something that resulted in a true lifelong improvement.