Failure is a bad word–or is it?
Did you ever stop to think that God has planned for our failures? He knows we aren’t perfect.
What is a planned failure? It is when God lets us make mistakes, learn from them and grow through them. He loves us through the whole process and gives us mass quantities of mercy. It’s why He sent Jesus.
How do planned failures fit in with homeschooling?
When my children were young, we took swimming lessons in the winter at our local YMCA. It seemed like we were always stressed, fussing and running late on swim days. Even though I told them to be ready, and they knew what to do to be ready to walk out the door, we were always late, got the worst parking place, the last lockers, and missed part of the lesson.
Then it occurred to me that it was ok for them to miss a lesson because they weren’t ready on time. I set them up to fail–planned failure. In the midst of running late, I informed them that if we were late the next week, we would stay home. I reminded them the day before the next lesson. I knew they would mess up and not be ready.
Oh, you should have seen it. There was weeping and wailing. I felt so bad, but I knew we had to do something different. They had to learn to be “responsible citizens of the universe.”
I know they learned from that failure. The next week (and most of the times after that), my children helped each other be ready EARLY for the swimming lesson. I didn’t have to nag, help them find towels or swimsuits, or get the diaper bag ready for the baby! They were in the van before I knew.
I don’t like watching my children fail at anything; but I know that God has a plan. I want God to be merciful to me when I stumble, so I need to be merciful when those under my supervision stumble.
Blessings,
Harriet
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