Failure

I saw the following quote today and have been thinking on it quite a bit:

Henry Ford: "Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently."

I have failed many times. I've failed my husband, my children, my friends and family, and most of all, to my shame, I have failed my Saviour.

How thankful I am for grace and mercy and for a Heavenly Father that loves us in spite of our mistakes!

I guess I can honestly say that a day does not go by where I fail in some way. There are days when I am impatient with my kids, less than submissive to my husband, distant from the Lord - and that is really where it all starts. The closer I draw to Him, the less I fail those who are around me.

I recently started teaching a children's church class on Wednesday nights for ages 6-7.5. It's a big class and when things get boring for them, and I don't keep the lesson interesting and moving along, I can quickly lose control. That is what happened last week. The service went a little longer than usual in the auditorium, and the kids grew impatient - and I ran out of material. The noise began to escalate, the kids began an uprising - surely they were going to take me out!! I began to fear for my safety!! Oh, when would those parents get here to pick up their little demons, I mean children??? Well, the class finally ended, the last little person was claimed by their owner - and I went home and took a tranquilizer. But yesterday evening when it was time to teach again I was SO ready for them. I had my lesson all ready, had extra material to study in case the service went longer than usual - and here's the clincher: I bribed them. Yup, I resorted to good 'ol bribery to get them to behave. I told them if they as a whole behaved, that after class they would get an extra treat!! Well, things went much better and other than a few disturbances (which I quickly squashed) the little darlings did beautifully. And I didn't even need a tranquilizer this time!! LOL!

I guess you could say that I learned from my mistakes, as is quoted at the beginning of this post. One of my other favorite quotes is this:

"Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." Anne Shirley

So, even when we fail, even if our entire day is a disaster, we can go to a loving God, ask Him to forgive us and help us try again - and get up the next morning with another chance to make things right. I'm so thankful for that!!

In His Care ~ Beth ~