Second Chances

I never particularly liked the concept of a second chance. What's so special about the second time? What about the third, the fourth, the forty-eighth? Why is it that people only get two chances? In what case would someone not mean enough for you to give them more?

I've been hurt. I've been hurt horribly, so that I've felt broken for days, weeks, months to pass. But if the person who was involved in that hurt (not responsible for, not caused, because in any case, it must have been my fault too) asked for another chance, I wouldn't say no. Not if it were the second, and not if it were the forty-eighth. People never go through life just making one mistake. And while some are undoubtedly more "severe," and carry longer-lasting consequences, there is a reason you're in my life, and that reason is why I'll do what I can to keep you in it. Because I love you. It doesn't mean that our relationship will be the same after this, on the second or on the forty-eighth chance, but it does mean that I want to preserve that relationship.

I've been given so many chances by so many people, regardless of whether they know it. And I won't ever count the chances I give, because I want them to be limitless. I never want to put a limit on the number of times I'm willing to trust someone, to be their friend, to have them in my life. I never want to put a limit on the number of times I'll take a risk. I never want to put a limit on my forgiveness.

We're such an imperfect species. We make mistakes and we sin every day, and we repeat those day by day. And yet, we're given so many chances by Him, by the day, by the hour. We, I, have so much to learn.