Who Broke the Hummel Figurine? Not Me!

I’m sure you have all heard the saying “Confession is good for the soul.”  It may be good for us, but it can sure be tough to do sometimes. 

I remember when I was about eight years old and I broke one of my mom’s Hummel figurines.  I had always been told not to play with them or to touch them.  Well, I decided to take one off the mantle to just look at it.  I dropped it and it hit the fireplace door.  I had to think fast, so I hid it in my room.  That night I glued it together and put it in my closet to dry.  I figured it would be dry by morning so I could sneak it back on the mantle before my mom noticed it was gone.  It worked!  Well, not exactly.  It worked until the next time my mom dusted the mantle a week later.  Then I was in a boat-load of trouble! 

I think the whole neighborhood heard my mom, as she opened the back door and shouted, “Carol Ann Skjegstad, get in this house NOW!”  Boy, I knew I was in for it.  If only I had confessed to breaking the Hummel when it happened, I would have been so much better off.  In retrospect, confession would have truly been the better option, but at the time I was trying to avoid getting grounded.  Instead, I lived with the guilt that my mom would one day discover the broken Hummel, which she did.  If I would have confessed when it had happened, I would have been given a lengthy lecture, but because I confessed willingly, there would have been no penalty.  However, because I covered it up, lied about it and then denied that I had done it, I was grounded for two whole weeks.  I had plenty of time to think about what I had done! 

I still have my mom’s broken Hummel.  Every time I see it I’m reminded of that simple “life lesson” my mom taught me about sin and confession.  Yes, confession is not only good for the soul, but it is good for our overall health and well-being, too. 

Check out Morgan Cryar’s song called “What Sin?”  It’s a simple song with a profound message about how we don't need to struggle with all the guilt and shame of our sin because God forgives and forgets it as soon as we confess it.  Listen to "What Sin?">>

What a gift God’s forgiveness is to us!

Pax,

Pastor Carol