Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start.

God has such grace and mercy for you today. May a fresh grace sweep over you today enabling you to walk forward in the new assignment He has given you.

I am deeeep in a writing project. Several actually. And this is my busy season at work.

All I want to do is write. The words are pouring out of my spirit faster than I can write them.

I’ve been getting up at 3am to write and the few hours of writing just before the sunrise isn’t enough to catch up with the downloads from the Lord.

So I’ve been adding Saturdays as writing days too. Generally, I don’t write when the kids are awake. It’s just too hard.

But they are getting a little older and being a little more independent is good for them.

So yesterday I was writing and I took a break to make everyone some breakfast. I pulled out a package of bacon and decided to try placing it on a baking sheet and popping it in the oven while I made French toast.

I just kinda figured it would take a long time to get crispy.

So I let it bake while I got lost in my writing again.

Addy was going to make eggs and I was going to make the French toast.

I heard her enter the kitchen and start getting her supplies going. She tells me that the oven is steaming from the bacon.

At first I was like, “Yep, it’s getting crispy. ”

As she wrapped up the eggs, I started the French toast mixture and checked the bacon.

It was burnt. Burnt. Burnt.

Burnt beyond the possibility of eating.

Addyson piped up, “Mom, what lessons can we learn from this little disaster?”

To which I sarcastically reply, “Um….I’m a bad cook.”

She laughs at my response and says, “No! Next time we should stick to frying them in a pan where you can watch them better.”

Brycen overheard the whole conversation and began to encourage me.

“Mom, it’s okay. You’re a great cook! You cook lots of yummy things like…..” and he began to list all of his favorite meals that I make.

And my kids fast responses of encouragement to my bacon failure are so wise and filled with treasure!

One mistake of burnt bacon doesn’t get to name me as a “bad cook” just like a bad day, a fall, a failure doesn’t get to become your identity either.

Addy’s advice of using a pan next time holds this wisdom.. Just because I burnt the bacon doesn’t mean I am a bad cook. It means I need a new method next time. 

And Brycen’s lists of all my amazing meals hold this wisdom… one failure doesn’t cancel out all the faithful successes!

Child of God, You are not identified by your falls. You are identified by your belief in what Jesus did at the cross for you.

God calls you His child. His beloved. His ambassador, a saint, and a co heir with Christ!

Rest today in Him and be mindful next time you make a mistake not to speak death over your identity.

That was in the morning, and then in the afternoon, our son Bentley had his own mishap.

He’s been working for days on a hydraulic robotic arm for a competition he’s preparing for. And Thursday night, he broke a very small, yet very important part.

I put the teeny tiny part in a zip lock so it would be visible. He asked for super glue and I promised to buy it.

Fast forward to Saturday. We buy the superglue. He gets home, races to his project and the ziploc bag is GONE!

Missing. No where. Chuck even went outside and went through every piece of garbage in our outside can to see if he accidentally tossed it.

Sad is an understatement to describe our boy. After lots of tears, he used my phone to find a new one online to get the replacement part. Then, with slumped shoulders, he went straight to bed. He flopped down face first in the bed and fell asleep just like that!

Chuck made two cups of coffee, sat next to me at the table and said, “We gotta order that set he found online. He’s worked too hard to quit now.”

The only way to go now is all the way to completion.

Finish the assignment.

Finish. Complete it.

Don’t stop when this Christian walk gets hard.

Don’t stop when it feels like you’re building and you lose ground.

Don’t stop when the pressures of life have you flopping face down on the bed.

Push on. Press on with the power of the Holy Spirit.

You have a High Priest praying for you! And the spirit of the Living God inside of you!!

He is working things out on your behalf even as you rest. Remember He said. “I will fight for you. You need only be still.”

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for life’s daily reminders of Your goodness. You’re Presence in the details! Thank You for Your mercy and equipping grace to FINISH well this race set before us.

In Jesus’s Name,

Amen.

Blessing and Endurance!

Vanessa Lynn