I LOVE to scuba dive; it is one of my favorite things to do! We were in The Bahamas and Ashtyn only had ONE MORE dive to complete in order to receive her certification.

Before we went down, she kept insisting, “I don’t want to do this!”

COME ON!!! Here we are, on vacation in this fantastic place!  I ALWAYS do whatever SHE wants to do! And now…she’s complaining at ME?

All during the dive, Ashtyn kept trying to inflate her vest and go to the surface. But, I kept pulling her BACK DOWN.

(You can hurt yourself by going up and down too much.) I’d shake my head, “NO” and she’d do it AGAIN!

We did this about TWENTY times until, finally, I swam her over to her dad, put her hand in his…and swam off.

(Now mind you, I love her and this was really NOT a big deal. But still, I let it ruin my mood for more than an hour.)

Because I was offended, I built a FENCE of OFFENSE between me and my peace, between me and my favorite thing, and worst of all, between me and my daughter!

I let her get into my head and under my skin.

But, God wants us to forgive and TEAR DOWN THOSE FENCES! Yeah, it’s nice for the other people…but forgiveness is really more for US!

Being offended just creates barriers between us and our blessing. GUESS WHO builds that fence, and guess who tears it down?

WE DO!

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Have you, recently, let something insignificant get under your skin and ruin your day?  Please, share with us.

Still feeling a bit MOODY? Continue reading on page 165 of “Hi God, It’s Me Again”.