I love monkeys.
Since I couldn’t have monkeys,
too cold in Montana,
or so my first grade teacher lectured me,
I had children.
Momma Mindy’s Monkies
they’re affectionately called.
Yes, I spell that wrong on purpose.
I think it’s cute.
Anyhoo,
I talked about my monkies’ sin nature in
Monkey Be, Monkey Do.
I talked about parents’ sin nature in
Need some inspiration for apologizing to your monkeys?
Need some inspiration to teach your monkeys how to apologize?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“A stiff apology is a second insult…
The injured party does not want to be compensated
because he has been wronged;
he wants to be healed because he has been hurt.”
Gilbert K. Chesterton
“Right actions in the future are the best apologies
for bad actions in the past.”
for bad actions in the past.”
Tryon Edwards
“In some families, please is described as the magic word.
In our house, however, it was sorry.”
Margaret Laurence
“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”
Kimberly Johnson
“Keep your words soft and tender because tomorrow you may have to eat them.”
Author Unknown
Apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform
the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift.
Margaret Lee Runbeck
An apology is the superglue of life.
It can repair just about anything.
It can repair just about anything.
Lynn Johnston
When you realize you’ve made a mistake, make amends immediately.
It’s easier to eat crow while it’s still warm.
Dan Heist
The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words
left unsaid and for deeds left undone.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Little Foxes, 1865
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The best inspiration about apologizing comes from God’s Word.
He emphasizes the heart response
2 Corinthians 7
For godly sorrow produces repentance
leading to salvation,
not to be regretted;
but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Worldly sorrow
means you’re sorry you got caught.
Or sorry you got punished.
Maybe you’re sorry because you looked bad to others.
Your sorrow is fueled by thoughts of yourself and others.
Godly sorrow
is a deeper, life-changing reaction to your sin.
It’s a soul-stirring sorrow fueled by
the thoughts of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This is the sorrow we need to model and explain to our monkies.
The lie satan loves to tell us an apology won’t help,
because we’ve apologized for the same thing over and over.
because we’ve apologized for the same thing over and over.
The evil one also likes to tell us that an apology isn’t necessary if
the situation happened a long time ago.
The destroyer whispers in our ears that nobody could ever forgive
anyone as bad as us.
That’s why one of his titles is called LIAR,
because he lies.
Don’t listen to snake-breath.
The only thing that
never wears out,
is still effective when late,
doesn’t weaken with age,
and never goes out of season
is an
apology.
So, if Monkeys See, Monkeys Do,
make sure your little monkies
See Momma Monkey apologize,
so they learn to Do likewise.
Monkey see, monkey do…good reminder. It is SO true, and I am afraid what makes parenting so hard some days. I am currently in a mommy time out, hiding in my room, so I don't Monkey Do something that is a Monky Don't!!! 😉
I am so bad about the excuse part! Dang it! Thanks for the reminder that an apology is a beautiful thing!
Great thoughts Mindy. Our example is the most influential teaching we can do.