Have you ever been in an argument with your significant other? Or with a very close friend? I don’t mean a “who ate the last of the ice cream that I wanted to eat” argument. I mean an real issue that you are having difficulty working out? And in that argument you said things you shouldn’t have and hurt the other person? The truth is we all have.

I would bet the moment you said the hurtful thing, you knew it. You knew you had further complicated the issue and hurt the other person. What did you do? How do you overcome those moments that you are hurtful and didn’t mean to be?

Alexander Pope once said, “To err is human, but to forgive is divine.”

Indira Gandhi said, “Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.”

I agree with both of these statements, and I would like to take them a step further. To apologize is also divine and brave. There is power in a genuine apology. Don’t you agree? Let me describe three ways that I have seen this power work in my own life.

When I am discussing an issue with someone I want to remember that the person is always more important than the issues. My wife and I have been in discussions before that have gotten away from us. In those times I may have said things that I thought were not offensive, but she heard something other than what I thought I said. It takes a few moments, but I realize that I have caused hurt. What do I do in that moment or realization? Stop the conversation and apologize. My wife is worth more to me than whatever the issue is we are discussing. Her feelings are worth more than my pride. So, I offer a heart felt apology and something that could have been very hurtful is passed over and quickly we return to a meaningful conversation.

Next, by apologizing I keep a grounded view. I am not always right. Far from it. If I am willing to admit that it leads to deeper relationships and more trust. Have you been around people who never admit they are wrong? Are they the coolest people in the room? In a word, no. There is a scripture that says, Pride goes before a fall. A person who is unwilling to admit they are wrong is operating from a position of pride. I don’t want to be that person.

Lastly, I am building strength with each apology. Building character is hard work. It is choosing day after day to make good, consistent choices. When I have done wrong, or brought offence the right choice is to offer an apology and to make the situation right. By making this choice, I want people to know when they deal with me that I am a good team mate and friend.

There is power in apology. I encourage you to remember that as you examine your relationships. Is the person more important that the issue? Have you been a victim of your own pride? Have you treated others fairly? I am confident that you will know when it is right to offer an apology, and you will see its power work for the good.

It seems like I have known you forever.
And also like it’s only been days.
Our love is still fresh, but so rich and deep.

We feel in love so quick.
Many wondered if it would stick,
I never doubted us for a moment.

I knew that We had found it.
A love that was real and lasting.
So, we marched confidently into the future.

We are not where we thought we’d be.
But, that is completely ok.
I love who we are becoming.

It’s not an adventure if you know the path.
There is no one I would rather do it with.
You are my best friend.

I love it that I get to walk with you.
That you are my partner through it all.
I wouldn’t be me if it weren’t for you.

We are now two decades down this road.
There are wonders and indescribable beauties.
The best one of all my love, is you, the woman I love.

Verse 1 – Every day I smile waking up here next to you. I lie there and I stare, because I am so thankful for you.

You are asleep and you don’t know just how beautiful you are. Then again, it comes so natural to you. You shine just like a star. You shine just like a star.

Chorus – Baby I’m the lucky one. You have given your heart to me. We are decades down this road we are on and starts are all I see.

Verse 2 – I love the way you love me and how you take good care of me. I love the life we have made togehter in this home as a family.

We have seen good and bad days, and no it doesn’t change a thing. I’d choose you again and again for all my life. This is the song I sing. This is the song I sing.

Chorus – Baby I’m the lucky one. You have given your heart to me. We are decades down this road we are on and starts are all I see.

Tag – No I don’t know what the future will hold. Baby that is just fine by me. As long as I have you by my side, that is all I need.

Chorus – Baby I’m the lucky one. You have given your heart to me. We are decades down this road we are on and starts are all I see.

It have been working for a lot of years now. It is hard to believe that I got my first job 25 years ago. Was 1994 really that long ago? Man, it doesn’t seem like it. It seems like it was just yesterday and I was showing up to Taco Bell for the first time…to work there and not eat.

Do you remember your first job? When I was 16 I was a bit naive…granted we all were at that age. In being naive, I thought that the managers of the store would have their stuff together. I thought that Taco Bell would be a well run machine. After all, I liked the food, so what would be so hard about working there. Yeah, the shine wore off real fast.

I didn’t realize back in the day that when you go to work for a place, there is a fine line you walk between knowing what the end product is and really knowing how it is made. To this day I will not eat the bean burritos there. Or the tacos. Or…eat there at all. Part of it is because fast food really isn’t good for me. The other part? I know how the food was made back then…can anyone say boiled in a bag?

It was also the first time that I remember being stuck in a place that I couldn’t leave for a predetermined amount of time, doing things that I did not consider fun. I can look back now and see the lessons I was learning much clearer than I saw them then for sure. I don’t remember the manager’s name, but I do remember her as an abrasive, do it because I told you to type. These days I deal with people like that often and I know how to handle the interactions. Back then, I had no idea what to do.

I can also look back and see the obvious business lessons I was learning. I remember having to weigh the ingredients that went into the food. I don’t remember the manager ever telling me it was to control food cost and overall spend. I wouldn’t have understood those terms then anyway, but I sure do now. I also remember having a crash course in customer service. It was really hard then to be really nice to some people that would come to the counter. Let’s face it, Taco Bell on the late shift is a magnet for strangeness.

I am glad I had that job though. It only paid me 4.75 per hour, but it gave me a lot of pride in making my own money. I took pride in how I treated people. I tried to do my very best. These are things that I work tirelessly on now. Everything I learned back then is still very applicable today.

I am glad to have moved beyond making retried beans in a bag and burritos, but I do appreciate the memories and lessons it gave me. It was far from perfect, but it was a good first job.

He stood at the corner. The sign he held in his hands spoke volumes. Times were tough and money hard to come by. He hadn’t bathed in a week. Lord only knows where he had slept the evening before, if he had slept at all. Didn’t he have a home he could go to? What brought him to this corner? Where did he get the marker and the cardboard for his sign?

His tired shoulders slumped as the cars passed him by. The hunger pains racked his body, but not as bad as the despair did. Times had not always been like these. There had been another day, years before. Before the women. Before the booze. Before the needles. Before despair.

He lifted his face. The streetlight changed to red once again. Slowly he panned the cars for generosity. A window rolled down and he walked to the person seated in the car. Two dollars. That was better than most people did. He muttered a thank you as the car drove away.

The streets were wet from the rain of the day. His clothes were sticking to his body, but at least it was cooler than the normal heat of an August day. How had he sunk this far?

He had been comfortable once. He had lived in luxury. His father had a strict set of rules that he chose not to abide by though, and in anger, one day, he demanded his share of the inheritance and left. Never to look back. Never to be constricted by those rules again.

The thoughts of years passed flashed through his mind often as he watched the cars go by. Arrogant people passed by every minute. But he knew well that very few had been as arrogant as he. Thousands of dollars he had, all of it he squandered. In a short amount of time he had nothing.

Too ashamed to go home, he stayed where he was and tried to work to make his way. Habits die hard. Expensive habits die painfully. His life was now broken and, he thought, wasted.

There had to be a better life than this. The life of one of the workers in his father’s employ was so much better than what he was now doing. Even if he couldn’t return as a son, he would ask his father for a job. It had to be better than his life now.

So, he picked up his backpack containing everything he owned in the world. It was many miles back to his father’s house, but the journey was underway. It would take several days to make it back, but it had to be better. It just had to.

His legs were tired. His feet sore. He climbed the hill in front of him. His father’s house was down on the other side. It wasn’t much further. As he reached the top of the hill he paused for a moment to catch his breath. He looked down on the valley where he grew up. It was familiar, but he knew it would never be as it was. Never again would he take it all for granted, even though none of it was his.

He started walking down the hill. To his amazement, he saw a man running toward him. The man was older and well dressed. Why was he running? Who was this? It was…his father. His father was running to him. Immediately he felt fear, but that was soon gone as he realized his father was smiling…and crying.

With a swift embrace, the father took the son in his arms and pulled him close. The son’s clothes did not stop him. The smell of the man did not stop the father. The father’s son was home and he rejoiced and cried as he held him.

“Father, please forgive me for my stupidity. I have come back to ask you for a job. I don’t deserve to be your son, but I will gladly spend my life working for you to repay the cost I have been to you.”

“Son, I have waited for you. Every day since you have been gone I have searched this road for you. I believed in my heart you would return. Now you have. You are my son and you will always be my son. I love you. Nothing has ever changed that. You may work with me as we live our lives as family. Come, we must celebrate for you have come home.”