The Power of Forgiveness

She loved more because she was forgiven more…

Ah, the power of forgiveness! It changes attitudes, decisions, perspectives, choices— your whole life! I knew this before, but now I see it every day, all around me and in myself.

Forgiveness is a difficult word, and often people associate it with being weak or letting others tread over you. Not so—in fact it is the most powerful tool for healing and edifying first yourself and also others.

I am taking baby steps at Ziyada.

I started working here 5 months ago. It is a totally new world that I see behind these green shuttered glass doors (True that the mint green shutter itself stands out sandwiched between the loud colors outside!).  I see heaps of grace and love lavished upon lives in here.

I remember one of those initial partial lockdown days, when the embroiderers came back with their pieces that they’d been working on from home. One of them, who is one of the fastest embroiderers, had done a significantly less work in comparison to others.  She said she was trying, but was unable to pick up her speed, so we talked of moving her into another area of production. But after a few minutes, Taylor told me that she decided to give the same embroidery to her, wanting to build her confidence. We gave the embroiderer a smaller target and asked her to try harder. She did, her confidence was restored, and she continues to be the fastest worker on the team!

That was just the beginning.

Since those first days on the team, I have witnessed mercy, love, and grace intermingled and flowing through the place—refreshing, restoring, rebuilding, and renewing broken hearts. It is truly amazing. For most of us, this is our favorite place. A place where we are valued and respected for what we do, and even for what we don’t do. People who work here very rarely get reprimanded, and even after making mistakes of various intensity, are trusted with more responsibilities. That has not made anyone loose, but only made us own the place and our roles more fully.

One of the highlights of my short time here was the first major shipment of goods that we sent to the US after I joined. We were closing the final box as we waited for the transport company to arrive to pick them up, when suddenly we identified a production. We ripped boxes open, checked all the items, and we found that we had to fix a particular product. The whole team gathered on the packing room floor and everyone worked together to correct the mistake.

By closing time, everything was repacked, but I was feeling so low.

Quality control is part of my job—I had broken trust. I told myself again and again that I am a misfit. Hiding my tearful face behind my mask, I picked up my bag to leave. Taylor stood by the door and asked me if I wanted a ride home. Before I could say no, she said, ”Please do come.” In that moment, I felt forgiven. I experienced grace. We did not talk to each other during the short drive. When I got out of the car, I just clasped her hand and said, “Thank you.” She said we were in this together and we would sort it out the next day.

My family rejoices and learns with me as I share my stories. The other day, my youngest one asked me, “ Amma, can I get a job in your office? I can even take care of the crèche!”

Yes, here at Ziyada, things work differently. They work on the Kingdom values!