LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!

I learned to forgive

Fiona Waller

Two winters ago, a girl came to live with our neighbors after her mom passed on. Both she and I were happy to have each other next door and be in the same class at school.

But we didn't always get along. She was nice to me at home, but at school she would hurt my feelings by telling me to shut up and saying in a mean voice. "What is wrong with you?" She could also be very rough, sometimes punching and hitting me hard. I would often come home crying and angry.

My mom helped me pray about it. We talked about Jesus and how I could follow his example. He forgave the people who put him on the cross. I wanted to forgive this girl because she had been through a lot of challenges in her life. I thought about her being God's perfect creation, not someone who was upset and out of control.

It was hard not to come home angry and accuse her of being mean. I had to learn how to heal my angry feelings. I thought about how these feelings were making me feel bad. I thought. "Why should I let what she did affect me?" God wasn't giving me angry feelings.

After a while, whenever she would get mad, I would be calm. Then she would just say, "Sorry," or "I didn't mean to do that." This change really showed me that my friend was God's child. She got better and better, and soon she hardly ever got angry! Now if she does once in a while, she says she's sorry right away.

I'm very grateful for God telling me what to do and for how it was all healed.

Our school social worker noticed that I was trying to be a peacemaker between my friend and other girls. Since then, she's called on me to participate in problem-solving sessions in class. This way I can help other children, too.

Fiona Waller, 11
Illinois

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Testimony of Healing

My healing

November 26, 2007

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