Can I be honest and tell you I really don’t like making mistakes? I’m okay with innocently not doing something right. Like every time I cook rice, and I think I’m following the directions to the t and it STILL doesn’t turn out right. Or when I bought my teenager a cool shirt, that she hated intensely disliked. Even a big mistake that is unavoidable is alright with me.
But when it’s a rookie mistake, that’s when I beat myself up. Our tenants water getting shut off, because I just completely forgot to pay the bill. Or when not checking my son’s back pack the night before resulted in sending him to school with an empty sharing bag. (parents of preschoolers might know what that is) Missing my dentist appointment. Things that could have been so easily avoided if I was just a little bit more organized.
Today I realized I had booked a guest speaker at our church for a specific date, then planned everything, including non-refundable hotel reservations for a completely different weekend. I got so upset with myself thinking if I had just checked the calendar one more time before I planned anything, I wouldn’t have made that mistake. If I had purchased the cancellation insurance I could have gotten a refund for the hotel. If I hadn’t been so sure of myself, I wouldn’t have to reschedule an entire weekend of events that had already been advertised. And on, and on and on….
But, you know what they say,
There’s no use crying over spilt milk. Clean it up and pour another glass. Well actually “they” only say the first part, I just added the rest.
In the midst of my self- degradation, I thought of the verse in 1 John 1:9 that tells us If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Regardless of whether the mistakes we may make in our lives are big or small, isn’t it good to know that we can confess, repent and be made clean? So that’s exactly what I did!
P.S. If you’re wondering how everything worked out with today’s faux paus, I called and spoke to a very nice representative who refunded my non-refundable, hotel reservations. My assistant hadn’t yet printed this week’s church bulletin so was able to change the dates. And the actual weekend that our guest is coming works out even better than the one I planned everything on. Makes me think of where it says in Lamentations that His mercies are new every morning and great is His faithfulness!
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