Grace and Bubblegum

Friday, March 8, 2013                                   Psalm 32

Jennifer Caver

           

When I was little, I loved bubblegum. I did the usual things like getting it stuck in my hair and stuck under tables. As you can imagine, my mother didn’t like this very much so she cut me off from gum. She just wouldn’t buy it anymore. I needed gum (in that desperate way that a seven or eight year old needs something) and so, since I had no money, I stole a pack from our neighborhood grocery store. Yes, I stole. It didn’t take long for my mother to notice that I was once again chewing gum. “Where did you get that?” she asked. “I don’t know. I just found it,” I answered. “Hmmm…” was my mother’s response. I think this went on for a day or so and the whole time I was just stewing on what I had done.

I really didn’t want to tell her that I had stolen from the nice family who ran the little store but the longer it went on, the worse I felt about the whole thing. Finally, I just admitted what I had done because I couldn’t stand it any longer. At this point, I expected banishment to my room or toys taken away but instead my mother made me do the worst thing of all; I had to go back to the store and tell them about my crime. I remember feeling very small behind the counter as told my story and I am pretty sure I had to pay the 25 cents that the gum cost but after that I really don’t remember much. It was over. I had confessed and the storeowner had shown me grace.

            I think of this story when I read Psalm 32. “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away… I acknowledged my sin to you…and you forgave” (Psalm 32:3-5).

Prayer:  Dear God, Please help me not to “be like a horse or a mule, without understanding.” Remind me that I can come to you with a full confession knowing that your “steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord” (Psalm 32:9-11).