The amazing grace of "do-over," the art of second chance (standard:Inspirational stories, 903 words)
Author: Godspenman	Added: Jan 02 2011	Views/Reads: 2785/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
If anybody believes in "do-over," it is Yours Truly. This stems back to my pre-adult days littered with carefreeness and fun of all sizes and shapes. At that time, my whole life revolved around games. I was part of that unfortunate generation th

If anybody believes in "do-over," it is Yours Truly. This stems back to
my pre-adult days littered with carefreeness and fun of all sizes and 
shapes. At that time, my whole life revolved around games. I was part 
of that unfortunate generation that had to make up their own games, as 
we were not privileged to have video games, iPods and Blueberries. 
Although I did enjoy a freshly baked blueberry pie with two scoops of 
ice cream whenever the opportunity presented itself. 

One rule we had in our made-to-order games was quite simple and
practical. If anybody fouled up in some way, he had 3 seconds to yell 
"Do-over." If the person was able to yell this before anybody else 
discovered the foul, they had the privilege of doing it all over again. 
I always thought this a very nice rule and used it quite generously. 

Unfortunately, when I became a man (whenever that sad day happened, and
my wife is still trying to find out when) I did not put away all of my 
boyish pranks. The one I carried over into adulthood was this attitude 
of "do-over." 

It is my personal belief that this philosophy of "do-over" should be
incorporated in adult life. I have found many times when I messed up 
that I wanted to yell "do-over" and fix a problem. If only this could 
be used in practical everyday living, what a difference it would make. 

I remember as a child that whenever this "do-over" was applied to a
situation at hand it solved a multitude of problems. Everyone agreed to 
the terms of "do-over,” which made things go rather smoothly and 
everybody was happy. 

Personally, I think this would solve many problems in our world today.
Whoever came up with the idea that you should have just one shot at 
something? It just does not seem fair to me. As soon as a person knows 
he has done something wrong, he should be able to yell "do-over," and 
correct the problem right there on the spot. 

Just the other day I was driving down a very busy street when I happened
to get in the wrong lane. It would have been wonderful if I could have 
just said loudly enough for everybody to hear, "do-over," then correct 
the problem. That was an option I did not have at the time. 

What actually happened was, the offended driver shouted at me and it was
not, "do-over." For a moment, we were coming at each other head on. 
Then in all the excitement, he got a little befuddled. He must have 
been a very religious man because with both hands he pointed towards 
heaven. In the excitement and the confusion of the moment, he used the 
wrong fingers. He could have used a "do-over." 

An incident happened to me not too long ago at the grocery store having
a large sale on cans of soft drink. There was a pyramid pile up front 
with the advertised soda. The can I wanted was about halfway up the 
pyramid and without thinking, which is my modus operandi, I pulled 
several cans from the middle. As soon as I pulled the cans from the 
middle it dawned on me what I had done and, more importantly, what was 
about to happen. If only I could have cried, "do-over," I could have 
saved the day. 

Needless to say, the day was not saved, and for that matter, neither was
I. 

One afternoon I came home and much to my delight, I found a freshly
baked apple pie on the counter. I have many weaknesses, not the least 
is a freshly baked apple pie. I am not quite sure what happens when I 
see a freshly baked pie, but something sinister takes over the reins of 
my body and I am not responsible for my actions. 

The next conscious thing I knew I had just eaten a slice of the
marvelously delicious pie topped with two scoops of ice cream. No 
sooner had I finished that scrumptious slice then who should walk in 
but the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. One look at her giving me 
one of her looks and all I wanted to say was, "do-over." 

"You did not eat a piece of that apple pie, did you?" 

All I could think of at the moment was, "Do-over." 

"I baked that pie for our neighbor who is sick." 

"Do-over." 

I tried explaining to her that not everything was my fault. If she, so
my reasoning mind raved, would not make such delicious apple pies I 
would not be tempted to eat them. 

It was then that she looked at me quite sternly and said, "do-over." 

I was invited to go to my room and think things over. As I turned this
over in my mind, it finally dawned on me that God is the creator of the 
"do-over." I should have known anything as good as this originated with 
God. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our 
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9 KJV). 

As I gave further thought on this, I begin to realize how wonderful a
"do-over" is when God is at the center of it. No matter how big my 
problem or mistake might be it is never bigger than God's ability to 
call out for me "do-over." 


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