My Forgiveness Friend and Coaching Session

Blogging is interesting. There’s a handful of bloggers that I “talk with” several times a week and have for almost my entire duration of blogging. I follow what is going on with them. I feel like they are my friends, even though we’ve never met. That’s the way it is with Debbie at ForgivingConnects.

Debbie has been through things in her life that I cannot ever imagine being able to forgive. But everyday she dedicates her blog and her life to helping people learn how to forgive. She has to be one of the most encouraging people I know. When she read about my pregnancy she reached out to send me a forgiving gift box to help nurture me in the early stages, which I had been STRUGGLING with. I wasn’t struggling from a lack of excitement, but I was so sick it was hard to function.

Her package came the day after we found out we are having a baby girl. How appropriate she wrapped it in pink!

The Loving Each Day for Moms and Dad book sits in my windowsill so I can grab it anytime. My husband and I started our list of potential baby names in the heart notebook. My son took the bags of lavender but kindly rearranges them throughout the house as needed. Like if you take a nap, one may be laying next to you when you wake. Debbie also included a card with an invitation for a complimentary forgiving coaching session.

Now you might not know this about me, but I’m a mixed bag when it comes to a lot of things. Forgiving is one of those things. I can usually be quick to forgive. There are some instance in my life though that I have held some pretty serious grudges, where forgiving does not come easy for me. So I graciously accepted Debbie’s offer.

The session was scheduled to be for 90 minutes. I told her I didn’t know if I’d be able to keep the kids appeased or be able to talk about myself for that long. Debbie knew better. She politely said we’ll try it and see how it goes. Then she sent a list of 5 questions for me to answer and send back before our session. Wow these 5 questions really needled in and got to the point.

Well crap. I think I may need more help than I realize, I thought to myself after answering these questions.

We did our session remote on a Friday afternoon after work, when I am the most tired. Debbie started the session with a quiet moment of prayer that forced me to slow down. And then I did what I didn’t think was possible. I talked Debbie’s ear off for the entire 90 minutes! Afterwards I wasn’t tired, and I felt much lighter.

The specifics of what we talked about are too personal for me to feel comfortable sharing. (Ironic, I know,  because I’m writing about this on my personal blog.) I had 3 big “aha” revelation moments. I took notes during our session and have gone back and will continue to go back and re-read what I wrote during these moments.

Then, Debbie was able to give me some manageable steps to practice in my daily life and long term. She called them tools toward forgiveness. And when I say “practice” I do mean practice. Debbie says forgiving is a choice, and like I mentioned before, that choice does not always come easy for me.

So I’d like to thank you, Debbie. I’d like to thank you for the your thoughtful gifts and the time you gave to help me. Thank you for your friendship.

Debbie is on a blog break currently but still has tons of good stuff to check out. I’d like to encourage you to visit it by clicking here. If you want to know what she is up to currently, check out her Forgiving Forum on Facebook by clicking here. I promise you’ll find something uplifting, and if you are struggling with forgiveness in your life she’s the woman you should be reaching out to.

***This is also my contribution to Debbie’s Forgiving Friday series.***