Forgiveness Has No Expiration Date

Stephanie Cozelli was sitting at a table in her local coffee shop. The rich aroma of roasting coffee beans greeted her nostrils agreeably. She always enjoyed hearing all of the conversation inside of coffee shops. There were three older men sitting at a table in the corner of the room, sipping on black coffees and catching each other up on the past ten years of their lives. There were two middle-aged women sitting off to the side, Bibles opened, heads bowed in prayer. Stephanie smiled to herself. This coffee shop really was the best place for Bible Study.

The playful banter of the baristas warmed her heart. It was a young man and a young woman. They seemed as if they were really good friends.

Stephanie sighed, unwanted feelings of envy entering her heart. She had never gotten along well with boys. When she was little, she had always considered them as the enemy, as people that weren't fun to play with. As a teen, she had thought differently.

Stephanie's older sister, Brie, was her best friend. They been close all of her life. Stephanie had always struggled with finding good friends. Mainly because she used to be really mean. Brie was the only person who was able to handle her. Stephanie always used to make all of her "friends" do what she wanted them to do, play what she wanted them to play, and hang on her every word. She had thought that was what friendship was. Part of her didn't realize what she was doing. Part of her just didn't care.

One day, Stephanie had met her match. When she was ten, there was another kid in her life. His name was Ryan Kelleran. He was just a little bit older than her, and they had the same type of domineering personality. Ryan's reading skills hadn't been that great, and Stephanie had always prided herself about her reading abilities.

Consequently, Stephanie had made fun of him for it. A lot. Ryan had retaliated, and they had an all-out war for years, that surfaced every time they saw one another. It soon escalated to things like throwing rocks, sabotaging each other with teachers, stealing each other's stuff, and - Stephanie shamefully remembered - making sure to sit next to Ryan during Sunday School, discreetly placing one of the bright colored markers in between her toes, and coloring up Ryan's pure white socks when he wasn't looking. Eventually, their parents finally got sick of the feud and said that if they couldn't get along, they should just ignore each other.

So, that's exactly what they did. For years.

Stephanie and Ryan still saw each other fairly often, and lately they had even begun to interact a little without killing each other.

As Stephanie continued to watch the baristas, she wondered to herself, Do I dare hope? Could Ryan and I get along, and become friends like these baristas?

Those were the questions that had plagued Stephanie's mind for the last three years. At twenty three years old, she desired a friend like that. A - dare she even think it? - brother. She had hoped for a man in her life to become a brother figure for a long while now. Could Ryan be it? Could he be the brother Stephanie had never had? The one she had longed for? She didn't know. But she did know one thing. It was time that they talked. Really talked. She needed to apologize. Even if Ryan didn't feel the same way, she still needed to do her part to bring about reconciliation. She had started the whole thing after all.

* * *

As Ryan walked into church that Sunday, he spotted her. He was slightly late, but he didn't mind as much as had a minute ago.

Stephanie was sitting in a row to his right, singing with the rest of the congregation, and it him like a ton of bricks. They needed to reconcile. He needed to make sure she knew he was truly sorry for everything he did to her when they were younger.

When Ryan found a seat and began singing along, he made a decision. Today was the day.

* * *

Stephanie looked through the window and noticed Ryan running through the parking lot. That's odd. She thought. Ryan's never late. Deciding it really wasn't any of her business, she focused on the song they were singing. As Ryan made his way to a row on her left, she noticed that they were in the third verse of "Wonderful Words of Life".

"Sweetly echo the Gospel Call, Wonderful Words of Life

Offer pardon and peace to all, Wonderful Words of Life."

That line pierced Stephanie to the core. Offer pardon and peace to all. Was that confirmation of what she had pondered at the coffee shop the other day?

* * *

Ok, it's official. If that's not confirmation, I don't know what is. Ryan said to himself as the song ended.

When the sermon was over, and people started mingling, Ryan made a beeline for Stephanie. She was still gathering up her Bible and notebook and pens, and didn't notice him until he said her name.

"Stephanie?" She looked up at him in surprise.

"Hi! What's up?" She responded.

"Listen, I want to apologize. When we were younger, I was a really big jerk, especially to you, and I'm sorry. And, I apologize for not apologizing sooner. This has been a long time in coming, but there it is."

Stephanie was literally speechless. She had expected to be the one to do what Ryan did. She had planned on being the one to say almost those exact words. After a few moments of mentally scrambling, she finally found her tongue.

"I'm sorry too, Ryan. Besides, I'm pretty sure I started the whole thing in the first place." She offered with a tremulous smile.

"Well... I won't disagree." They both laughed. Ryan continued.

"Again, I'm sorry this was so late. I should have done this long ago."

Stephanie smiled again and considered things for a moment before answering.

"Better late then never." She replied with grace.

Ryan looked at her with awe.

"Thank you." He whispered.

"No, Ryan. Thank you." She replied.