Recipe du jour

"You should have seen how scared I was the first time I tried to ride a horse," said Jessica. "And sure enough, I fell off."

All of us know the sinking feeling that comes when we try our best but fail anyway. Like when we're on a girl's softball team and strike out, losing the game, instead of hitting the winning run. Or when we come in just a few points too low for the grade we need to pass a test. When we fail at something we really wanted to do, we can't help but feel discouraged. Maybe our best isn't good enough—or is it? How can we deal with our failures?

We have two choices. We can hang our heads and say, "That's it! I'm never going to try that again." Or we can take our mistakes and learn something from them. We all know that failing is no fun, but could it be that what seems like failure will someday turn into success?

The smell of burning cookies filled the kitchen. Megan snatched up a potholder, pulled open the oven door, and grabbed the pan. But it was too late. The charred mess was hopeless. Feeling disgusted with herself, Megan took the pan to the sink and sent her burnt offering down the disposal.

What a mess! she thought. What's mom going to say? I better make sure it doesn't happen again.

Like Megan, our failures may remind us to concentrate more on what we're doing. But there are other times when we concentrate very hard, give our best effort, and still fail.

We'd always like to win or succeed, but there are times when learning to lose is more important than winning. Sometimes losing forces us to change our goals.

Brianna had worked hard to learn the school cheers. Her handsprings and somersaults were perfect, she thought. But when she didn't make the cheerleading squad, she decided not to sit around.

"I signed up to paint props for the school play," she said. "At first I just filled in where others had drawn a shape, but soon I learned how to sketch things out." Later on, Brianna decided she wanted to learn more about painting. Now she's thinking about becoming a professional artist.

Failing might also push us to work harder and accomplish something important. One girl who nearly drowned three different times pushed herself to become an excellent swimmer. Another girl, Emily, envied one of her friends because she could make everyone laugh. "I really wanted to do that too," Emily said. "But whenever I told a joke, I'd forget the punch line, and it fell flat." She decided there were other things she could do well.

Katie was embarrassed that she'd flunked an English test. That same day a teacher told her to leave class because she was whispering and giggling too much. She sat in the principal's office and thought about where she was headed. "I'm really not succeeding at being the class clown. And I know I could get good grades if I tried."

After that Katie started working hard at school. Soon her grades showed everyone that she was more than the class clown. When she graduated from high school she even received a scholarship for doing so well in school.

"I used to feel really bad every time I failed," Katie said. "Now, even though it's hard, I keep trying to learn something when I fail. I want to depend on God's help."

Depending on God and believing in his best can sometimes be hard to do, can't it? When Jesus walked and talked with his disciples, they thought he'd become king of their world. When he died on the cross, they felt they had lost everything, including their best friend. But Jesus surprised them by rising from the dead.

Burnt cookies? A lost game? An outer loss? Maybe an inner gain? And what happened to Jessica after falling off the horse? She got back on. In time she had her own horse and started riding in competitions. She even became the champion of a six-state region!

Main Ingredient

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Temperature Control

Thanks, Jesus, that even when I fail, you can bring something good out of it. In those times when I seem to lose, show me how to depend on you and believe in your best. Help me remember that your Good Friday became Easter morning.