The schools are closed and my kids are home with a big piles of homework. Our experiences so far have been mixed. Learning is hard work!
It’s easy for me to see how close she is to the end of her assignment and how much she’s learning, but then I already graduated 5th grade. I remember thinking it would take me an eternity to learn my 7’s times table, but in hindsight it wasn’t really that bad and I’m confident my son will learn it, too.
But do you remember how much repetition it took to master these things? Remember erasing holes right through the paper?
We’ve had several conversations about embracing the process, practicing, and making mistakes. It’s so obvious when we’re helping our kids! It would be ridiculous to try to pass the unit test before we began the first worksheet!
But, to be honest, this doesn’t come naturally to me. I like to know I’ll be successful before I really give it a try.
A few months back, I kept talking with friends about how I wished I had better devotion habits personally and with my family. I hadn’t found the right time, or the right book, there was no way I was going to be able to really stick with something. There’s always a reason.
Then this phrase “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly” kept coming up in my newsfeed and, frankly, I thought it was ridiculous. Why bother doing something badly?
But after a while I realized that if at any point my family and I were in the Word, that was worthwhile. I couldn’t lose. If I got off track on a reading schedule (and I would) it’d be okay. It would be better to try and to struggle than not to have begun at all.
There are weeks where I only get to it once or twice, but I got to it once or twice! And those times have been a tremendous blessing.
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.
Learning and growing are messy, but there’s a beauty in that vulnerability. When we try something new we experience the joy of rediscovering the miracle of our minds and bodies! When we dare to operate in a zone where we face our weaknesses and limitations we get to watch in awe as God’s strength and handiwork is evident more clearly!
Just start.
Take baby steps.
Keep trying.
Shake off the mistakes.
Erase it and begin again.
Laugh off the failures, secure in your knowledge of Whose you are.
Savor every evidence of growth!
What have you been hesitant to start? If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.
Give it a shot. Watch as God works growth and endurance in you. Celebrate as He uses even the baby steps to show His goodness!
“Be confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6