In Others’ Words: Pardon, My Mistake

 

When I was I was in elementary school, I wrote reports. Remember those? The teacher would assign you to write about a certain country — the food they ate, the clothes they wore … occupations … traditions … whatever.

I would do my research. Collect my facts on those little lined white index cards. And then, I’d begin writing my paper. Nice and neat.

But no matter how carefully I formed my letters and spaced my words and sentences, I always made a mistake somewhere on that paper. I ruined it. And I would want to tear it up. Start all over again.

And that’s when my mom would step in, take the discarded pen in her hand, and turn my misspelled word or my misshaped letter into a flower. Yes, a flower. The mistake? Gone.

Let’s face it: life doesn’t come with a mistake-free guarantee. And there’s no way to shred up words we shouldn’t have said or choices we shouldn’t have made.

But we can transform a mistake.

How? Sometimes by owning up and admitting we said or did something wrong — not in a “let’s put a flower on this and cover it up” kind of way. But honestly. Genuinely.

Sometimes the transformation happens when our words or actions are bathed in God’s lavish grace and we experience forgiveness.

Mistakes happen. But they don’t have to haunt us.

In Your Words: How have you turned a mistake into something good?

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Mistakes happen but they don’t have to haunt us Click to Tweet