The scene was Beloved Miss Forbes’ second grade class. The lesson—Miss Forbes in front of the class with large print flash cards. She would call your name and hold up a card and if you were able to identify the word you went to join the “chain” of students that marched around the room. When my turn came my mind went blank. I couldn’t identify the word. She kindly said, “We’ll try again later.” She tried again and again until all the students were in the “chain” except me. They were all kindly whispering the word to me. Miss Forbes walked quietly to my desk where I sat frozen and weeping. She took my hand and said something like, “You will never forget the word “CAN again” — and I haven’t! Perhaps you have your own memory of a “frozen” moment of humiliation and enormous sense of failure. Our wonderful, amazing God will always allow opportunities that may exceed our immediate capacity for success, but He is always there to hold our hand and to point us to a future where there will be success. Friends, every excellent teacher always pushes out the borders of the learning experience for their students. Our God is always at work to take us to higher, more beneficial ground. His motive is always love. The learning process may include some tears, but He is always there to set us on the path again. I know you CAN start again, move forward, and become all that our God dreams you can be. “I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) (All good and beneficial things, of course) Our worst defeats can be used by our God as our best new beginnings. Bless you on your upward Journey.
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