January 13, 2021 It took me less than two seconds to realize I had screwed up. I was doing two things I shouldn’t have been doing: Working when I had taken the day off and was on the way to a birthday celebration date night with my husband and trying to reply to an email when I didn’t really have time to reply to an email. So, when I hit “send” on my phone to deliver the email, I forgot that the email app on my phone defaults to “reply all” instead of just “reply,” and I sent an email meant for one person to multiple distribution lists. I was mortified. While it wasn’t the worst email I could’ve sent to dozens of people, the fact that I had made such a visible mistake crushed me. “I can’t look at my email for the rest of the night,” I told my husband. “I can’t believe I just did that. My night is ruined.” The next morning, I logged on to my work computer expecting a whole bunch of emails with some version of “did you realize you hit ‘reply all?’” Instead, I found several emails from people offering suggestions and answers that made my Friday workload much easier and made the story I was working on much stronger than it otherwise would’ve been. I sat at my desk and laughed about the situation. While I was still not thrilled that I had goofed up so visibly, I saw how God took my mistake and turned it into a blessing. It’s funny how God does that. I’ve mentioned before that I tend to dwell on my mistakes, my sinfulness and the weaker parts of my personality. While we’re called to continue cooperating with God’s graces to try to overcome those parts of ourselves, it’s nice to be reminded that God loves even those parts of us, and He uses even those parts of us. Sometimes, God uses our mistakes and struggles to overcome our sinfulness to bring us closer to Him. Sometimes, God uses those things to help us connect and empathize with others. Sometimes, we don’t get to see His purpose, but He has one. I am so grateful for that. |
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