Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Reconciling

My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.

Psalm 145:21

In grade school, once a year, our class used to go see the nurse as she examined our health. We’d gone in groups alphabetically arranged so the same group of people always went with me. My group included my cousin and eventually, my future high school best friend. We received individual turns with the nurse but we were all in the same room. One year, I was asked whether I took vitamins and wanting to impress, I said “Yes”, emphatically. That question was soon followed by “Which one?” and in the same vein, I earnestly replied with, “Muriatic Acid”. This happened over forty years ago but sometimes when I see this old friend, we’d have a good, hearty, throaty laugh about this story. I realize that some readers of this blog are from other countries so let me just explain that in those days, back in the Philippines, Muriatic Acid, more commonly known as hydrochloric acid, was used to treat iron and steel as a form of rust prevention. It was somehow also very carefully used in our house to whiten toilet bowls to rid it of mineral deposits. Had I truly ingested that liquid, I would have literally corroded my insides to kingdom come! =D I meant to say “ascorbic acid” (Vitamin C) but I was actually not even clued in to the mistake. I was oblivious which made it all the funnier, especially to my quick witted friend who started to then laugh. We still get tickled to the bone (!) with that memory. =)

That same friend is with me for a few days. I looked forward to this, anticipating the good time that we’re going to have. She said she wanted to come (all the way from Manila, Philippines) to celebrate my birthday with me. I was truly touched by even just the thought of that because I would have spent my birthday on my own. My family doesn’t get here until two days later and that’s what birthdays had always meant to me, celebrating it with them and having them pray for me. To have her here is like having a family member with me. I also finished my paper last Friday (YAY!) and so I have this week to just chill, enjoy, and celebrate. =) Those activities are usually better done with someone. In addition, I understood that in His grace, the Lord was allowing my friend and I to have this time together to truly reconnect, and reconcile. In our last year of high school, we had a falling out and I’d always regretted that our friendship was no longer as close as it used to be.

Yesterday, over our meals, we had LOONG, revealing, sometimes awkward, sometimes painful, but definitely necessary discussions about our relationship. I realized that I remembered it wrongly and that I needed to apologize for the way I related with her over the years. She also apologized. We forgave each other and in one exchange, I actually, instantly, felt released. =) The Lord is so good. He never wanted nor meant for me to carry that unforgiveness in my heart. I know it’s a sin that stood in the way of me getting closer to Him. I am so glad it’s been dealt with. I’ve been set free. We sang songs of praises last night (not together, not yet!) and that’s what it felt like, my heart was singing and rejoicing. My mouth was/is speaking in praise of the Lord. =D

One of the things she did earlier yesterday was to buy bottles of healthy detoxification drink. She was kind enough to share a bottle with me and I actually enjoyed the taste. She, on the other hand, thought it tasted awful. With a straight face, I told her that I should have her taste the ‘Oil of Olay’ that I periodically drink. At this point, she started laughing again and pointed out what I’d said. =D Then, I remembered the first story above and that got us going for another round of hysterics. =) Laughter is such good medicine.

Why was that funny? For those who may not be from North America, some of us have been taking 2-3 drops of ‘Oil of Oregano’ (this is about all you can take for the ghastly taste that it has!) added in a bit of water. We do this for our immunity level to increase. For years, I’d also been using ‘Oil of Olay’ facial lotion.

No comments:

Post a Comment