Failure's a lousy friend

I set out to kick December's butt, only to discover that I've failed miserably in an area that I desperately wanted crazy success in all because I made stupid and wrong choices.  Has this happened to anyone else recently? I could see immediately that it was about to take me down a road I'd much rather not travel and eventually really derail me in all attempts to practice the self discipline I committed to, in this post.  I could see the wheels falling off before my eyes, and I felt the rise of desperation bubbling up inside me. So I dug my little creative journal out of my purse, took a big black ink pen, and wrote the only word that was bouncing off the walls of my brain at the moment.

FAILURE. 

Then I stood back a bit, and stared at it.  The house was quiet because everyone was gone, but I was standing in my kitchen right beside my good friend, Failure.  I took a deep breath, closed the book, tucked it back inside my purse and went out the door, getting my errands finished.  But there's something about writing it out in black and white (literally) that has a bit of staying power.

It wasn't until later, when I'd yelled at the kids, tried to pick a fight with a weary husband soon after his work day ended, and kicked the dog (okay I didn't really kick Lucy) that I discovered my friend, Failure, had settled in, and I'd been taking it out on everyone within range.

Yeah.  That's not exactly kicking December's butt, is it?  So Failure and I went to bed, and when I woke up, he was hovering beside me on the pillow, grinning at me with his ugly face.  Soon after, I went for a walk with my girlfriend Betsy and told her all about it.  She didn't even hesitate before stomping all over Failure, and saying, "You need to get a big red pen, and write, 'Grace' all over that word!"

So you know what?  I did.  Only I didn't really get why it was important until later... in the afternoon, when I actually gave God my ear for the first time that day. (Don't be like me.)

I was reading Romans 3:23-24, and it says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  Ummm... you know that part where is says, "justified?"  My dad taught me that when ever you see the word, "justified" in the bible, replace it with, "just-as-if-I'd (never sinned)." So really the verse, could almost read like this: "Lemonade Makin' Mama has failed, and fallen short of the glory of God, but is just as if she'd never failed, by the free grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Ah yes... now that grace thing is making a whole lot more sense.  So I kicked Failure to the curb, cause he's a lousy friend, and now I'm keeping company with Grace.  How about you?  Feeling like you're failing in anything this month?  There's grace for that, you know.  And it's free.  I say we grab it and set our minds to do it better.  Amen?