When a young girl–in a show that Waylon and I are watching together–lost a competition after knowing she was a shoo-in, her father shared these very wise words…
“Sometimes it’s good to find out we’re not as good as we thought we were because it makes us work harder.
Last night I found out I’m not as good as I thought I was. Last night–while scrolling through social media–I felt troubled by a misunderstanding, wanting so badly to correct that misunderstanding (which I could have done easily with a quick comment) but knowing it would be a jerk move to do so. So I said nothing.
When all was said and done (or not said in this case) the fact that I had felt troubled by the misunderstanding troubled me the most. Because if my heart had been in the right place I would have felt happy about it. If my heart had been in the right place I would have felt delighted to sit quietly, secretly by while someone else received credit for something I’d done.
“I’m not as good as I want to be yet.” I told the Lord during my bedtime prayers, “Please teach me to be better.”
Rick and I teach the four year olds at church. We love it and we love them. But our first day of class… Whew! Those kids quickly taught us that we were not as good as we thought we were.
“I will not be bested by four year olds.” I announced when we got home and I began to work harder. I poured every ounce of creativity I possess into coming up with a plan to make our class run more smoothly and it has truly become one of the most rewarding parts of my week.
Our kids love the class routines, they love the scripture and spiritual stories told with lots of pictures (especially if those pictures are held up by popsicle sticks. Popsicles sticks are everything to our kids) and they LOVE the “reverent mail” that they get at the end of class. But most importantly they love us because they know that we love them.
Lately my life has been full of moments that have left me saying, “Whew! I’m not as good as I thought I was and things are not as good as I thought they were.” But I’m filled with hope. Hope that if I work harder, relying more fully on the Lord and pouring every ounce of the time and creativity I possess into becoming better–miracles will happen.
He cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
I have been unwittingly asleep, complacent and riding comfortably on the belief that all is “good”. But now I’m awake and ready to work harder than ever before. Because I plan to win this competition called life.
And oh boy is it gonna be good.