After a wonderful Christmas at home with family and friends, I boarded a plane and headed back to my other home in Germany.
At the staff breakfast, interim director Phil Peters passed the baton (literally and figuratively) to the new director, Scott Jones. In his opening speech to the staff and faculty of BFA, he challenged us to give ourselves grace in failure. Failure is in fact a part of learning; we cannot grow without making mistakes. Thomas Edison said of failure, “I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” Giving ourselves permission to fail allows us the freedom to try new techniques and strategies, to improve our craft as teachers.
The only way we can succeed is to be willing to fail. The only way to be strong is to admit weakness. We can in fact boast in weakness.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
– 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
In church today the sermon was about God’s strength in weakness. Pastor Markus Gulden encouraged us that in our sorrow we discover God’s grace. We often think that God uses us in spite of our weakness, but instead, he can use us because we are weak. We are not heroes, but willing tools in the hand of the master Craftsman.
This year is a season of discovering God’s grace in my weakness. The theme for the school year is “Only Grace.” This Friday’s chapel speaker talked about “Do-overs” – we all want a second chance to succeed. God gives us that second chance by His grace.
In teaching my guitar class, I am vulnerable with the students – I let them know that I am not an experienced guitar player; as I admit my weaknesses and failures in my attempts to learn guitar, they gain a freedom to also make mistakes as they learn a new instrument. In some ways this year, my greatest weakness has become my greatest strength. My weakest subject is guitar because I only had a semester class in college. Yet God has given me an incredible amount of opportunities to speak into the lives of my guitar students! In allowing myself to admit my weakness, fail a few times, and re-learn how to learn a new instrument, God has worked something powerful in my life and in the lives of my students (while having a great time!).
Guitar Class at the Christmas Concert:
This week we started a new semester; I have a new group of guitar students. Some are nervous about failing, others are afraid their fingers won’t be coordinated, others think they don’t have any rhythm. But all of us will work hard and boast in our weaknesses as we learn and grow together. Hopefully we will all catch a glimpse of God’s power this semester!
