Blessed and greatly favored is the (wo)man whose strength is in You,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power];
Each of them appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:5-7 Amplified
I’d like to say my inspiration this week came from a deeply profound spiritual place —— but I can’t do that. Sometimes encouragement comes from the most unexpected and unlikely places and this week its been this song from Zootopia that’s stuck with me all week and had Livvy and I dancing in the lounge room.
Heres a snippet of the lyrics and you can listen to it here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
I messed up tonight
I lost another fight
I still mess up but I’ll just start again
I keep falling down
I keep on hitting the ground
I always get up now to see what’s next
Birds don’t just fly
They fall down and get up
Nobody learns without getting it wrong
I won’t give up, no I won’t give in
Till I reach the end
And then I’ll start again
Though I’m on the lead
I wanna try everything
I wanna try even though I could fail
I won’t give up, no I won’t give in
Till I reach the end
And then I’ll start again
No I won’t leave
I wanna try everything
I wanna try even though I could fail
Look how far you’ve come
You filled your heart with love
Baby you’ve done enough that cut your breath
Don’t beat yourself up
Don’t need to run so fast
Sometimes we come last but we did our best
I won’t give up, no I won’t give in
Till I reach the end
And then I’ll start again
Though I’m on the lead
I wanna try everything
I wanna try even though I could fail
I won’t give up, no I won’t give in
Till I reach the end
And then I’ll start again
No I won’t leave
I wanna try everything
I wanna try even though I could fail
I’ll keep on making those new mistakes
I’ll keep on making them every day
Those new mistakes
Those lyrics have done me some good this week and I think we can all relate.
It’s not that we celebrate failure or making a mess of things but lets face it, if we are showing up and trying do anything worth anything, if we are trying to love each other and love God, if we are putting our best foot forward in living this life – theres a 100% guarantee we are gonna make mistakes and probably plenty of them. Theres every chance we’ll fall in a screaming heap one day and get it completely wrong the next. And now and then we’ll wonder if we have ever done a thing in our life right because if its not one thing coming apart at the seams its another.
Just as well our mishaps and muck ups don’t call all the shots. Just as well our mistakes and misfires aren’t a measure of who we are and what we are capable of.
Our mistakes aren’t the whole story.
because Jesus has a whole other beautiful story
and calls things by a different name than what we do (Romans 4:17)
We see our shame yet He calls us unashamed. We see our weakness and brokenness yet He calls us strong and whole. We see our unworthiness yet He has made us his friends. We see our barreness and yet He says rejoice. We call it empty and He calls it full to overflowing. We call it a place of weeping and He calls it a place of blessing.
We see a mess and He sees our heart.
Our mistakes aren’t the whole story. Mistakes are just a part of being alive. Lets not make a mountain out of them, lets not punish ourselves with them, and lets not be silenced by them.
We can let them bring us closer to God.
We can let them be an opportunity to experience His loving kindness and His tender mercy.
We can let them be opportunity for Jesus to call them by a different name, to bring about good.
We may not want to celebrate our mistakes because they come with a sting but we can celebrate our getting back up and trying again and our not giving up and our not giving in.
We can celebrate that Jesus is with us and that we are no longer at the mercy of our mistakes.
We can celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness.
So if you need to this week, crank up the music and rejoice – – – – –
because Jesus is writing His story on your heart, mistakes and mess ups and muck ups and all.
All thats behind you was preparation for all thats in front of you – – – Lisa Bevere
Love to you all today
Tracey xx
Time to phone a friend?
Now is a great time to invite someone to our
Winter Warm Up
Saturday the 23rd July, Laurel Room,
Ribbonwood Centre, Dapto.
12.30pm
As you know we are going to be enjoying some homemade soups and desserts so if you could let me know at church on Sunday what you would like to bring or simply reply to this email.