Day 6 - Jury Duty

The letter came from the Superior Court. Honestly, it caught me off guard because I haven't received too many letters from court - ever. After ripping it open, I realized it was a questionnaire for jury duty. In all my 44 years, I've never even been a candidate for jury duty.

I filled out the form and mailed it in, only because it said if I didn't an officer of the court could show up at my home. We live in a small town. We know the officers. I didn't want that.

As I mailed it off, I prayed (literally) that I wouldn't get selected because it would really be an inconvenience. I'm a stay-at-home, work-at-home mom. For the past 23 years, in addition to raising kids, my entrepreneurial skills have been exercised running a medical transcription business. Much of the time, it's just been me. Sometimes others help out, but mostly it falls on my shoulders.

Two weeks ago, the second letter came from Superior Court, and I was now ordered to appear for jury duty. Great. So much planning to do now. The long and short of it, I had to prepare to be gone for the day. Without boring you with all the details, it involved busy fingers, blurry eyes, and about three hours of sleep.

So I showed up at 8:20 at the Superior Court yesterday with 35 other prospective jurors. The arrival deadline of 8:30 came ... and went... 8:45 ... 9:00. Finally after 9:00 we were all called in to sit on the cold benches in the courtroom.

After a gracious expression of appreciation for all of us showing up, the Judge proceeded to tell us that the case would not be going to trial. The day before when I called in as instructed to find out of the case had been settled out of court, it hadn't been, so somewhere between 8:30 and 9:00, everything had changed. We were again thanked for our time and dismissed.

As I drove home, it occurred to me how similar my morning's events were to forgiveness. When we ask for forgiveness, the trial is off. It doesn't mean there are no consequences. Sin always has consequences, some short-term, some long. But when we confess our sins, the Accuser is silenced, and we are free from the guilt and the shame. How incredible is that? And all we have to do is ask for it and receive it!

I John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."