Man, what a day of highs and lows.
I entered an online drawing to win some David Crowder*Band music, thinking that the odds of me winning were pretty slim. Have you ever entered one of these drawings? Most of the time I enter, because you can’t win if you don’t play…
You can imagine my surprise and joy when I got an email congratulating me for being a winner.
I felt affirmed and encouraged. I’ve always hoped to be a winner. I have pictured that moment in my head countless times. Me–a winner. I dared to believe, dared to dream. And now here it was, in beautiful verdana 10 point type…Congratulations! You are a winner.
But alas, it was not to be. Some hours later I got a follow up email apologizing for the mix up. It turns out that I am, in fact, not a winner. Though the author of said email didn’t come right out and pronounce it, the only conclusion that I can draw is that (given that I am not a winner) I am a loser.
Oh well, a fellow can still dream, can’t he?
In all seriousness, I wrestled with my response to this for a few minutes. I was disappointed (still am) and a little ticked off. I got my hopes up, and felt a rush of Summer Happiness, but it was short-lived. I don’t know if I tracked through all 7 stages of grief or not. But in the end, I decided to land somewhere in the area of grace. I’ll send a nice follow-up note to the person who emailed me the good/bad news, and I’ll be gracious.
When misfortune lands in our laps, we have choices to make in terms of how we deal with it. We all wrestle with emotions, and being hurt, well, hurts. But in this case, I figure that I didn’t have the Crowder music before the contest, and I haven’t really lost anything. I know that I’ve let people down in the past (far past, way past past, nothing recent, I swear.) Those people who responded with grace breathed life back into my deflated self; the people who responded looking for justice and a pound of flesh…let’s just say they didn’t help the situation.
You may find yourself someday with a perfectly good reason to lay the lumber to someone’s rear-end. You may be totally justified in seeking what’s yours. But I’m proposing that we offer grace instead of justice and wrath. Grace is a life-giver, and I want to receive grace in my hour of need.
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