This week I attended the funeral of our longtime neighbor and friend, Daryl.  As I listened to the stories told by his children, I was once again struck by how much the gift of our time and presence means in the lives of those we love.

As his children recounted a few memories, Daryl’s oldest son, Russell, told that one of the things he learned from his dad was the principle of forgiveness.  During Russell’s teenage years, he and his dad had many occasions to butt heads.  It would usually end with Russell grounded but after an hour or so, his dad would come to his room and say, “Do you know why you are grounded?”  If Russell understood why he was grounded, he said his dad would look at him and say, “All is forgiven.”  The grounding was over and his dad really did forgive.  It wasn’t brought up again.  He learned that conflict didn’t need to be permanent because of forgiveness.

Similarly, his son, Brent, shared how his dad loved to tease, whether it was about his imaginary pet rhinoceros or something more real, he was a “tease.”  One night Brent and his wife returned from time with family and he found that his wife had been hurt by the teasing of his dad. He mustered his courage and called his dad to tell him the teasing had gone too far.  His dad immediately apologized and the next day when he returned from work, he found a box of Krispy Kreme donuts on the counter, a gift to his wife from his dad who had left work early so he could apologize in person to his daughter-in-law.  

Quick to repent, quick to forgive.  It is the little things that are the big things in life.  When we practice repenting and forgiving we open our hearts for the Savior, Jesus Christ, to show us “a more excellent way”. (1 Corinthians 12:31)