I Made My Mistakes for You, Too
We all make mistakes. It is unavoidable, because we are human.
However, it is in our biggest mistakes that we learn our most valuable lessons.
As a parent, that is a scary thought. Before becoming a parent, I would take mental notes on what I would and would not do when it was my turn to parent from my parents. I must say, in my 16 years of parenting, I have thrown my critique of my parents out of the window!
When my oldest began to hit his teenage years, one of my greatest resources on what to do and how to handle a young man was found in my parents. I would call and ask questions, vent about what was happening, and then listen to what they had to say.
But one day, I didn’t call. My son had done something so innocent (looking back on it now), but when I responded, it turned into something much bigger than the both of us. The situation got so intense that I had my daughter call the police.
While the police were en route, a family friend was able to make it to the house. She prayed for my son, talked to me and offered to take him for the night so that everyone could have the opportunity to cool off. And it was during that time that she shared with me some of her mistakes. I don’t believe she shared them just so that she would have something to talk to me about. Thinking about it now in retrospect, I believe she shared them so that I too could glean from the wisdom that she obtained in raising a teenage son. She had made her mistakes for me too.
At the time the situation occurred, I was acting as a single parent. My husband was deployed, and I was responsible for two kids and life. It is only through the grace of God that I made it through (still in my right mind) and was able to smile at my husband when I saw him the day he landed back on US soil.
“Dear Friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad-- for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.” 1 Peter 4:12, 13 (NLT)
“And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” Revelation 12:11 (NLT)
Dear friends, there will come a time where you will have to share your mistakes. Not in an effort to make that person that you are sharing with feel better, but to encourage them to keep moving forward in their journey. When you share you mistakes, you share wisdom. You show evidence of Gods renewed grace and mercy in your everyday life.
Our society has this nasty habit of sub-consciously telling us to not share where we have fallen short. Why? Because it shows how human and imperfect we are, which is contradictory to the word of God.
On the day when my friend shared with me her story, she executed Titus 2:4:
“These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and children”. (NLT)
On that day, I received wisdom on how to love my children better; more specifically how to love my teenage son better. That day I learned a most valuable lesson through my mistake. I gained wisdom and because of that, it made me a better parent. Not a perfect parent, but a better one than the day before.
