To learn to forgive with no strings...that’s a real Buzz
Ryan’s a fencer – and a grandad. As often as he can, he takes his grandchildren to the park, the woods, the beach...Because he believes spending time in nature will be good for them, and they love it!
A few weeks ago, he built a two-metre-high fence around a back garden. The client asked for a sturdy padlock on the gate. They were protecting their children from an abusive ex-partner and this was to be their only play area.
Ryan didn’t want involved but the idea of children being kept “safe” behind a fence he built stayed with him. So, he spoke to the client.
Now, once a week, when his grandchildren go adventuring, they take some new friends along.
“It’s a sad situation,” he told me. “But children weren’t meant to be fenced in. If I provided the fence, I can at least provide as many escapes as possible.”
Paul has a job where there is no finished product to show how hard he worked.
He spent much of the pandemic working in testing centres. Now he works in a Job Centre. Every time a client leaves, Paul disinfects their seat and any surfaces that might have been touched.
So, the next client comes in to a germ-and-virus-free environment. Most of them won’t even be aware of the man with the spray and wipes but they will be so much safer because of him.
“If I do my job right,” Paul told me, “nothing happens. No one gets ill. There is no outbreak. The place doesn’t have to be shut down.”
It’s a rare job where the end result of all the hard work is... nothing! But, in this case, it’s an important one.
To all those like Paul, who worked for everyone else’s safety – thank you!
James’ three-year-old son Dylan is a big Buzz Lightyear fan.
“He has one Buzz figure he likes the best. One with a helmet, apparently. This solitary Space Ranger regularly takes on an army of evil alien robots and wins every time.
“I say ‘army’ but there were originally six. And now there are only five. The other one fights alongside Buzz and goes into the same box as him afterwards. A very separate box from the others. I asked him why, and Dylan replied, ‘Him say sorry for being evil alien robot’. I was about to explain that it wasn’t that easy. Then I remembered it was a game. Then I realised what a big lesson I had been taught.
“My son had just demonstrated the importance of an apology, the possibility of a new start, and the ‘life’-changing power of no-strings-attached forgiveness.”
A case of “To redemption – and beyond!”