You Are Not a Mistake

But You Will Make Some

“Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, for the Lord is holding his hand” Psalm 37:24 BSB

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” C. S. Lewis

On my birthday, I received a gift that says, “Youth is a gift. Age is an art.” Boy! I took that to heart! So many of my youthful days were filled with optimism, fun, good health, and the perpetual myth that life should be and will be fair. I’ll meet “the one,” and we will live with rainbows and unicorns. Somehow, grace covered all the youthful mistakes in my thinking and acting. True to life, they were the building blocks of my faith and successes.

Now, I’m much older with different losses, pain, learning experiences, and disappointments galore. I wake up and my legs are a bit stiff. I think going anywhere after 9:00 p.m. is a waste of time, especially if I have a good book or an inspiring movie. I look at my granddaughters and see the very same ideas, hopes, and optimism that I had in my youth. They’re making many of the same mistakes I made. They cry over the similar situations I had. And their optimism is sky high.  High expectations of others and themselves are a crushing lesson, but necessary. They’re sure they can change the world. Their energy is boundless. Their expectations are high, and disappointment reigns. Adulting is tough work!

 Mistakes will be made, but you’re not a mistake. Others are not a mistake.

This is what my grandmother did. She smiled when I would go off on an emotional tangent. She would set out cookies and coffee. She would embrace. She somehow knew it would be all right, and she was such a comfort, without a word or judgment.  I would ask her what to do, and she would tell a story from her past, leaving me to decide whether to take it in. It sure does now! Through her personhood, she showed me grace and safety, with the assurance that all will work out. She knew the building blocks of success are mistakes—sometimes biggies!  

It’s Hands Off with Love. Detachment with love. Prayer is highly recommended.

It’s recognizing we’re all unique but susceptible to the same entanglements, mistakes, and disappointments. And I may not learn from your mistakes. They may not learn from your mistakes. But they will keep trying if they have love.  I think that’s true for most of us. I know by MY mistakes. Hard knocks! It’s a gift that seems like punishment, but it’s a gift.

Musings

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent

People and the affection of children

To earn the appreciation of honest

Critics and endure the betrayal of false

Friends, to appreciate beauty, to find

The best in others; To leave the world

A bit better, whether by a healthy child,

A garden patch or a redeemed social

Condition: To know even one life has

Breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mistakes will be made.

Prayer

Dear Father,

Thank you for grace, along with the joys, disappointments, and work that cover us when we make mistakes. It’s such an affirmation of your work in us. It’s grace that keeps us going. Progress.

We read in your Book about the many mistakes your people made. We’re making them too, thousands of years later, but your grace, love, and pursuit keep us faithful in hope, faithful in perseverance, and faithful in love.

And thank you for the transformation that is taking place in us today.

Amen.