Embracing My Failing Grade
We are all failures. Everyday I am reminded of how often I screw up as a mom, wife, and child of God. I don't read to my son enough. I don't preschool my daughter enough. I don't encourage my husband enough. I don't pray and read the scriptures enough. Oh, nobody is complaining. Nobody is wagging their finger at me and saying, "You are a failure Rain. You gotta improve here!" I'm just acutely aware of my inadequacies everyday.
I'm not writing this post to gain your sympathizes. I am writing this to make a point. There is one guarantee in life. We will all fail at something, whether it is at school, in our relationships, at our jobs, in our journey as parents, or in improving our health. Or we will become the brunt of another person's failure. I am sure we can all remember some incidence in which we suffered the consequences of another person's screw up.
Yet, in spite of the assurance of failure, we live in a world that tries to push failures into the background. For instance, governments do not like talking about how they have mismanaged the country's funds. Or people rarely disclose to others when they are experiencing marital problems. And here is my personal favorite: we keep passing kids on to the next elementary grade even though the child has not met the basic standards of the previous grade. On the other hand, we also take secret delight in hearing about the failures of movie stars or the scum of society. Hey, it feels good to know that we haven't messed up THAT bad! Our problems pale in comparison with Brittany Spears or the downtown crack addict.
So if we are guaranteed to fail at something, how do we deal with it? How do we teach our children to handle the emotional stress of missing the mark? How do we encourage our children to be the BEST that they can be without being perfect? What is the secret of balancing the call to adopt God's righteousness and the need to embrace God's grace without touting some cliche that doesn't work? Ideas?
In the meanwhile, I have a song to share with you by Alanis Morissette entitled "Perfect." The first time I heard it, I was moved to tears. I hope and pray that I will not be the person depicted in the song. Tell me what you think.
I'm not writing this post to gain your sympathizes. I am writing this to make a point. There is one guarantee in life. We will all fail at something, whether it is at school, in our relationships, at our jobs, in our journey as parents, or in improving our health. Or we will become the brunt of another person's failure. I am sure we can all remember some incidence in which we suffered the consequences of another person's screw up.
Yet, in spite of the assurance of failure, we live in a world that tries to push failures into the background. For instance, governments do not like talking about how they have mismanaged the country's funds. Or people rarely disclose to others when they are experiencing marital problems. And here is my personal favorite: we keep passing kids on to the next elementary grade even though the child has not met the basic standards of the previous grade. On the other hand, we also take secret delight in hearing about the failures of movie stars or the scum of society. Hey, it feels good to know that we haven't messed up THAT bad! Our problems pale in comparison with Brittany Spears or the downtown crack addict.
So if we are guaranteed to fail at something, how do we deal with it? How do we teach our children to handle the emotional stress of missing the mark? How do we encourage our children to be the BEST that they can be without being perfect? What is the secret of balancing the call to adopt God's righteousness and the need to embrace God's grace without touting some cliche that doesn't work? Ideas?
In the meanwhile, I have a song to share with you by Alanis Morissette entitled "Perfect." The first time I heard it, I was moved to tears. I hope and pray that I will not be the person depicted in the song. Tell me what you think.