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"Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." ... Colossians 3:13
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Netflix. The greatest thing since chocolate cake.
This morning at Netflix I discovered The Brian Boitano Project. You haven't seen it yet? It's about this:
"On a recent vacation to the old country, Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano discovered his Italian family, and the town his relatives migrated from. He also discovered, and ultimately purchased an old family home in desperate need of repair. Now Brian is taking it upon himself to totally renovate the home as a summer villa for family and friends to enjoy, and we are there for the journey!"
But here's the thing: After purchasing the crumbling, centuries' old family home with all its (awesome) antique tables, beds, chairs and a cast-iron stove, Brian takes two of his little-old-lady cousins through the house and they share old family stories with him.
Then while he spends a month in the States, those 'sweet little old ladies' secretly sell all of Brian's furniture. They emptied the entire house, well, except for the basement junk.
Oh. My. Goodness. Brian returns, discovers what they've done and is shocked. But within hours he decides to let it go. To say nothing to the women and to not reclaim the furniture since by now, it has the negativity of this situation attached to it, anyway.
Wow.
Me? I'd have gone and pounded on those women's door. "How could you?" I would have puffed. "The house was mine, the furniture was mine. Get it back. Get it all back. Now." And then been known as one of those insane, selfish Americans, thus alienating me from the group of Italian relatives I'd just met.
Obviously, Brian Boitano is a better man than I am. :)
Anyway, I'm so enjoying watching Brian, his crew and his nieces restore this lovely old Italian villa. And I'm learning about forgiveness by viewing an example in action, something of which we can never see too much.
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"But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two." ...Matthew 5:39-41
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Here are some other stories of houses I thought you might like:
Restoration of a French Chateau.
Living Happily in 90 Square Feet
Ten Tiny Dwellings
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Oh my, that is so sad that they would do that!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out this show--sounds interesting--but what continues to hit me between the eyes is the "let it go" theme. Even the popular song from the movie, Frozen, says it! Often, I'm not even aware that I'm holding onto something that I should release. Thanks for another reminder of what matters most.
ReplyDeleteWe have always said, "If they need it that badly they can have it." It saves a lot of grief.
ReplyDeleteHow's Tom doing? Are you still skyping everyday?
Elizabeth--yes, it was sad. Brian said he'd hoped blood was thicker than euros, but that it appeared it wasn't. Alas.
ReplyDeletePam--I think you'd like this show. It had only 4 episodes, so wasn't a big time commitment and had some lovely scenes from Italy.
MaBeane--for me, it would be a case-by-case thing, for sometimes God does call us to confront the people in our lives, especially if it comes to their stealing from us or someone else. But in Brian's case? I believe he chose the right time to, instead, let it go.
I'll try to answer your questions about Tom in my next post. :)
Thanks, Ladies! Blessings, Debra