Well, does anyone really Love to fail? The point is: when I fail, I am always greeted with love. It's a thing I want to tell you all about today. I've been heavily procrastinating and busy atop of it all, so I apologize for the lack of recipes coming up and about lately. My time has been scare.
But you Scribblers still love me. That's my point.
Do you remember that fun fact about me and how I have no ability whatsoever to sing?
Last Friday (the one a week ago), we had some solo song work in the musical theatre class at my Springer four week camp. Singing my solo in front of everyone prompted me to get scared of failing and by the end of my 32 bars I had started crying.
The reason was this one time in middle school. We were auditioning for High School Musical, and I tentatively raised my hand to sing the solo audition for Gabriella (just a basic dream role for any girl of color growing up in America) but was replied to with a slight shake of the head from my director. I couldn't sing well enough to even audition.
So that terrible indoctrination has just always stuck with me, that I'm not a good singer. Not to mention that I've always grown up with people that are much better singers than I... but comparison is the thief of joy, I guess.
The HAPPY point of that sideways spiel? My group had nothing but support for me when I started crying. I hurriedly sat down, and one of my friends crawled over to me and hugged and comforted me. After the class, my teammates all hugged me and reassured me that I wasn't a bad singer (true or not, it's the thought that counts), and I just felt so supported and safe.
When I had "failed," I had been received with love.
See some of these fabulous friends in this video:
Another fail? Crashing my bike on Monday. Blind spots? Those exist. So very lucky it didn't occur on the road, and I didn't crash with a car. No, it was a sharp turn on the Riverwalk trail that didn't let either side see far enough past a few feet, so I collided with another cyclist that came fast the other way. Ouch, my hand. I didn't even fall off, and it wasn't bad enough to be an "accident." But my hand sure did hurt (only injury) and it stayed swollen for a few days.
It messed up the gears of my bike, which I didn't realize until after the cyclist I crashed into rode away (he was much bigger than me and sustained no injury). But I ran into good strangers, and a good cop that managed to save me from walking my bike a mile or so back to the parking lot.
The idea of being received from failure with loving arms tied in to my glance into Scripture the other day. Isaiah 64-65. Even when you sin, God is waiting with open arms.
But that's not just an encouragement to sin because, "hey, I'll be forgiven anyway!" The point is to not want to sin. But a godly lifestyle takes a lifetime. You just keep taking it all in stride and try to keep it all up. Keep making the good decisions and avoiding the bad ones, always in constant conversation with the Spirit.
And then, just this Friday on the 24th I went to see Idina Menzel's concert up in Atlanta, and she was so genuine. She wanted to enjoy herself much more than conform to please an audience.. which in turn just made us love her more.
Sometimes through failing, we learn more. Fail boldly. And remember that love is waiting for you.
Sublime breakfast of watermelon and lime. Tart and tangy and sweet and refreshing.
Coconut water and lime. Noms.
Porridge. Oats soaked in coconut water and topped with blueberries and raspberries and raisins and buckwheat groats and coconut sugar and coconut and lime.
