Atonement

...something that makes up for an offense or injury

The Husband was helping my sister's ex-husband with some wiring in his house. My sis and I were upstairs with the kids. The guys said they were going to have to turn the power off for a minute. Of course we should have remembered that they both are joksters. When the power went off, there was a giant "BANG" and someone yelled. Like they had been hurt. Then there was no response from the basement. Panic. That's what we did.
Bill's house was built a LONG time ago. The basement steps are only 5-6 inches wide and extremely steep. I started for the stairs. I had to know if they were ok. I was holding the baby. My sis saw where I was headed and she jumped in front of me. She ran for the stairs and kinda kept running when she hit them. Then she fell. First on her left arm, rolling to her right shoulder and taking the last 6 or so steps on her back/butt.
The guys were fine. They had been playing around with us. Poor sister was hurt. Badly. We thought she broke her arm. It ended up being bruised. Everyone felt awful.

The Husband decided to finish painting her kitchen for her. He knew she'd have a rough time trying to grasp the paint roller with her arm hurting. He felt he owed it to her. I went along. As I was rolling on the paint, I was thinking about how the Husband was doing this to make up for her getting hurt. In a way, I was too. After all, her running in front of me saved me (and the baby) from a fall down those treacherous steps. She didn't expect any of it. It was an accident. She wasn't upset. But we were. We wanted to "fix" it.
Even after we were finished painting, it didn't erase her fall. She still had the bruises. Of course she was thrilled to have her kitchen finished. But I still felt just as bad about her fall. I bet the Husband does too.
I thought about Jesus. How He is the atonement for all my sins. I take that for granted. I know that I can't atone for my sins in the way Jesus did. All I have to do is repent. But maybe I need to feel a bit more saddened by my sin. To really think on it. To really remember the price Jesus paid. And to be more thankful.