Give Me a Forgiving Heart!--Letting Go of the Hurts and Treasuring the Valuable

Last week at St. Elmo, Danny and Hannah bought little baggies of sunflower seeds in the kernel to feed these chipmunks.

Danny also had collected about a dozen scarlet rose hips from wild rose bushes to see if the chipmunks might like them and eat them.

Above you see Hannah offering one to a chipmunk.
The chipmunks not only liked those bright red edibles--they tasted them and then dashed off to hide them like they had discovered an amazing treasure!

The sunflower kernels were disposed of, the sunflower seeds eaten or stuffed into their cheeks, 

but the rose hips were valued like a great treasure!

So here we are in this life with chaff and seeds and treasures--what will we do with them?

Recently a big hurt pummeled me in the chest.

Would I stuff it inside like the chipmunks into their cheeks,

hide it in some special spot, 

or dispose of it like the kernels and chaff?

Late that afternoon my heart cried out to God, "Give me a forgiving heart!"

It was not necessary to open myself up to hurt again, but it was necessary to forgive and not hold a personal grudge. 

 Hurts and grudges are kernels to discard, to let go of, to forgive.

There are seeds to digest, to ponder, to meditate on, to question;

And there are beautiful scarlet roses to receive with joy and treasure in the safe places of a tender heart.