Restitution...

I've had many comments on my last posting about honesty. After writing it, I recalled how 2 Christmases ago, I made a promise that I didn't keep. Each year the women at church have a dinner and a fun White Elephant Gift exchange. On this particular year, there was an icecream sandwhich maker that was getting snagged and had exchanged hands a few times before it landed safely into someone's lap. Laura C* is a fantastic cook/baker/chef. She had her eye on it but it slipped from her grasp. My sister Cara had given me one years before hand...and I had never used it. So I told Laura, "Hey, I have one of those. I'll give it to you."



Well, then it was January 2007...June 2007....October...oops a new year...2008...February 2008...July 2008...

Yep...AUGUST 2008. I hadn't gone through with what I had promised. Now, it wasn't a super big deal. She probably thought I had said it in passing. She probably even forgot I had offered it. But I remembered and it still lay, new in package, on my shelf. This morning, I wrapped it up pretty in wrapping paper tied with organza ribbon and attached a fun card to it. Laura was so surprised by it. She was delighted to receive a gift...as she is one who is so very giving and generous.

Why did I finally give it to her? Well....typically it is difficult, if not impossible to make restitution for things left undone, unsaid...or worse...things that did much harm or words which were cruel. And in this very simple and silly case, I could fix my mistake.

It made her day...and mine!