A trip of detours
You may be wondering how remodeling a home could lead to spiritual insights into life. I was surprised myself by the unexpected twist.
I waited years to remodel our master bedroom. Something would always come up that demanded our time, attention, and money, and we kept putting the remodeling on the back burner. But finally the day came and the project was underway.
A special aspect of the master bathroom was a mural surrounding our new bathtub, painted by a friend who is a phenomenal artist.
Since my favorite view is the ocean, my friend created a scene so that when I soaked in the tub I could imagine myself at the water’s edge, with crashing waves, swaying palm trees, sandpipers standing on the sand, and seagulls. flying above
A surprise in this seaside image was an island on the horizon. When I praised my friend’s work, she told me that she had not initially planned to paint the island. She had made a mistake with her brush and, trying to determine the best way to correct it, she turned her mistake into an island. It was the perfect complement to an already impressive painting. Truly a masterpiece. A look at God’s creation with every detail in its perfect place.
Lately, when I look at his mistake, I realize that I can’t even imagine the scene without him. And this has made me reflect on the mistakes I have made in my life. I have wondered what my life would be today without those mistakes.
My most vivid memory of a life-changing mistake was when I was academically suspended from college my first year. It’s not that the suspension was a mistake, but rather the result of my poor study skills and spending more time in social activities than in class.
For a while, I was devastated and depressed. I was forced to leave my new friends and a new boyfriend and leave my new home and return to my parents’ house. I didn’t know what to do with my life.
Not long after moving back in with my parents, I received an encouraging letter from my college advisor. He explained that the word “suspend” also meant “to hold with an invisible support.” I could know that I was also being supported by the hopes of the school and the expectation of my return. I appreciated this definition, as it began to shift my view from self-pity to forward looking.
I also struggled with guilt. I realized that he had made many errors in judgment that led to my current situation. I felt horrible. I felt that I had let my parents down. Although they were compassionate towards me, I knew that they had to be disappointed in me. I know I was.
I felt like I was being flooded at the beginning of my adulthood. For solutions and encouragement, I turned to the scriptures and the various writings of Mary Baker Eddy. These resources had supported my prayers in the past. Surely, there would be answers now.
I started writing a journal. As I studied, prayed, reflected, and listened, I wrote in my journal. Quotes. Perspectives. Affairs. Inspiration. ideas I also spent time with my parents, praying, reading, and reasoning together. Something he hadn’t done in a long time. We had wonderful discussions. I felt hurt by the time we shared together.
It was Eddy’s inspiring insights in a column titled “Improve Your Time” that changed my view from inadequacy and failure to God’s created woman: a woman who possesses the abilities and talents necessary to succeed. She wrote about how to achieve success in one’s life with persistent effort and improvement of the moments, how to stop wasting time and move on from indecision about what to do. She said: “If you want to be successful in the future, make the most of the present.”
Leaving past mistakes behind, I focused on present possibilities. Soon, a job opportunity presented itself. One that taught me a lot about selfless care for the needs of others. I enrolled in a community college, where I took various remedial classes and workshops to improve my reading and writing skills. And I continued to cherish the time with my parents.
A few months later, I returned to my home university. Three years later, I got my Bachelor of Arts with the top class award for “progress.”
Life-changing lessons were learned from the mistakes of my first year. And the time I spent with my stepfather during those months became even more precious to me when he passed away shortly after I went back to college. So I saw my time at home as a gift. A gift I might not have had without those bugs they sent me home.
No, I don’t think I can imagine my life today without any of my past mistakes.
Learning from our mistakes, becoming wise because of them, we progress towards the masterpiece of contemplating God. His eternal and constant vision of his beloved children: strong, intelligent, loving, healthy. . . well.