We Are All Beginners at Something

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 NLT

“Change is hard at the beginning, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” — Robin Sharma

Why, oh why do we feel shame if we are a beginner? Babies learning to walk don’t feel shame, some bumps and bruises along the way, and they fall many times before they run. Learning to ride a bicycle was daunting in my childhood, yet I persisted and soared through forests, bumpy dirt roads, and grassy vacant lots. Then I tackled ice skating. Ouch! I had no embarrassment or shame in learning to play a game, the computer, driving. I did as I got older and someone saw me struggling. The focus was taken off the activity and onto me. When did it become shameful to become a beginner? I made many mistakes as a widow. I’ve never been a widow before. When I became a manager, I made mistakes. I’d never managed before. I was quitting destructive behaviors. I’d never done that before. In fact, harmful behaviors are quite easy to pick up. Well, except when I started smoking and had to smoke a pack till I was nauseous, dizzy and green.

We are all new at something for the rest of our lives. Old? Yep. You’ve never been old before. Married? Yep. Never done that before. And if you’re remarried, you’ve never been married to that particular person before. New job? Yep. New people and skills to sharpen our education. Grace, loads and loads of it, is needed in all beginning situations.  We’re all beginners at something.

What to do?

Musings

Show up!!!  Take a class, ask a friend or mentor for help, read a book, do an online search, and ask God for wisdom and courage. You’ll still fumble at first. But every day you show up, you’re making progress. Sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly. Drop the embarrassment and if someone teases you, you can bet they’re new at something too. Say a quick prayer for the outlier and put your focus on Him. The One who does all and is all. Struggle. We all have messy beginnings and middles, but the ending will be something when we’re with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Prayer

Father,

We were new when we became a part of your family with failures, sins, and regrets intact. You welcomed us anyway with singing and celebration.

Being new at anything in this world is humbling, and scary, and requires patience, discipline and trust. Hold back our shame in being a beginner. Help us to accept that we all, from infants to the very old, are learning new things. Help us to be kind and understanding with the beginners in our lives. “Unless we become like children…”

Amen.