My husband is an avid golfer. One term he uses (and puts into practice quite often) is “mulligan”. When he tees off and it “shanks” he wants a “mulligan.” He plays with a group of guys that are constantly in need of “mulligans.” I am not sure what a “handicap” is in golf, but these guys are too busy having fun to be overly concerned with improving their game.
Sometimes in life we would like a “mulligan.” For example, your wife asks if these jeans make her look fat, and you (in a blind moment of insanity) answer in the affirmative. Or, your toddler wants a set of drums, and that crazy Santa delivers. Then this little bubble appears over your head: “What was I thinking??? I messed that one up! Can I have a ‘mulligan’?”
That’s what I like about that old movie “Groundhog Day.” Bill Murray gets the chance for a “mulligan”, again, and again, and again. Until he gets it right. Until he changes. The same old mistakes kept getting him the same old results. Only when he changed his reaction to happenings around him, when he changed his perspective and outlook, when his focus became more outward than inward, did the end results change.
As human beings in the real world, we don’t get “mulligans”. But, here is the good news, we do get second chances. Our God is the God of second chances! Between Him and us, he can wipe the slate clean, if we let Him. Gone. Poof! Our sins are as far away as the East is from the West.
However, between others and us it isn’t always so easy. Past hurts and mistakes can leave scars that go deep, damaging relationships and even our own perception of ourselves. That is where CounselingWorks comes in. With Christian counseling sometimes hurts can be healed, relationships restored, and perspectives changed. The Bible says that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That means we can be transformed! It’s not a “maybe we can, maybe we can’t” proposition. It is do-able. We can’t change the past, but we can change the future. It begins by changing ourselves, for the better.
My prayer for you and for me is that we accept God’s second chance offer.
