To keep short accounts helps me to live with joy throughout what would’ve been a haunted day.

What that means (keep short accounts) is to settle issues quickly. In the accounting world, if I spend a little time each week working on reconciling my books, it’s an easy, simple task. However if I wait two months to do so, it becomes a hairdo of a mess. It’s the same in relationships.

Case in point:

Recently hubby snored like crazy, constantly interrupting my sleep. So when he woke, I barked at him, pretty darned angry.

A half hour later, I felt bad about my barking and sent him an apology text.

He received my apology, then apologized for the snoring. And harmony was restored, our relational account balanced.

I can’t tell you how relieved that made me feel, to clear the air before the day commenced. I could’ve let the anger fester, or let him live under my barking. But something down deep niggled me, this haunting that I didn’t want to spend my day with anger between us.

God’s quiet words to me of late are these: Choose people. I’ve let that little sentence frame the way I see others, train me to responsive to their needs, and think of people first before I consider my own needs. It’s made for some humbling, sweet moments of late.

Choosing people means choosing to apologize when we’re crabby. It means valuing the heart of the other, humbling ourselves enough to prove that value, and longing for sweet harmony when discord reigns. And it means keeping short accounts with those we love the most (our families and closest friends).

How about you? How do you keep short accounts? Why is it hard to apologize? What does it mean for you to choose people TODAY?