So....how's this for you...I didn't menu plan for this week. I usually do that on Saturday when I have a little time to peruse Pinterest or at least flip through my Taste of Home magazine stash...or call my mom for a recipe. But Saturday I spent the morning at Costco....which might have you thinking....why didn't you pick up groceries then? Well....because I am a failure....I was overwhelmed and it was crowded...and I didn't have a list and I wasn't sure what was a good buy and what wasn't... wait....I'm remembering now...I did pick up 4 pounds of bacon. I mean...every family has its priorities right?
Anyway...now we are sitting at Tuesday afternoon. I am eating a cookie that has Christmas decorations on it....yes....gross. Tucker just ate a second bowl of cereal and I'm pretty sure Savannah just drank the pickle juice out of the jar. EPIC Fail.
Bruce is picking up Dairy Queen on the way home.
So what do you do when you think you're a failure?
I've tried nearly everything to recover from failure before...
Eat my way out.
Cry my eyes out.
Hide out.
Shout out.
But honestly, I know that although all those things feel good for a little bit. That ultimately they don't fix anything. Someone a long time ago told me this...or a version of this (my mind is reeling from the enormous amount of sugar I just had from the Christmas cookie...)
------Sift the truth from the failure....Could you have planned better, acted better, done better?
------Throw away the lies.....What didn't you have control over? What was out of your hands? What is the enemy feeding you that isn't true?
------Use the truth to build for a better decision next time. What does God's Word say about it?
------Forgive yourself and forgive others
And while menu planning isn't going to make the world stop turning...there have been things in my life I have failed miserably at and I've needed to take a serious look at so they didn't happen again. I've had to forgive myself when it was easier to beat myself up. I've had to examine the feelings of failure and reject the lies of "You're not a good enough "menu planner", mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend..." And use the truth to walk uprightly and with confidence that better days are ahead...No, we aren't starting a steady diet of pickle juice and stale Christmas cookies....meat and veggies is in the near future. I am not the worst mom in the world.
And while I jest about much of this...isn't this true for the times of real defeat? There's nothing better that the devil wants than for us to be down for the count because we failed. Newsflash....I'm going to fail. So are you. So is your kid, your boss, your husband, your parents. So just know that God has a purpose in the failure. What is it? Growth is a pretty sure answer. There's always room to grow. There's always room to improve. There's always room to get closer to the one with all the answers.
And meanwhile...Dairy Queen for dinner is not the worst thing that can happen....
