I thought I made a mistake...

I remember hearing this joke when I was a kid and still chuckle at it...especially when I tell it.

"I've only been wrong once in my life. That was when I thought I was wrong but was right all the time." (Insert rimshot)

I heard a man introduce his son at a conference this week. The father listed his son's credentials then said that one of the younger preacher's great qualities was humility. Then the dad said, "He didn't get that from me." It's true. Everyone in the room knew it. Later, in another setting, the same man offered his advice with this preamble: "In my humble opinion..." I wanted to raise my hand and mention his previous admission! I respect this man for his leadership of his church and our Southern Baptist churches. At least he is honest about his lack of humility.

Well, in my humble opinion, I made a pretty good cup of coffee today. I thought I had made a mistake but it turned out good so I think I'll just spin the story to make it look like I did it on purpose.

I usually drink my coffee black. No cream. No sugar. That's pretty much a knee-jerk reaction to what I call "candy coffee." Too many people (my wife included) add a bunch of stuff to a cup of coffee and still call it coffee. Beige coffee is not really coffee. Sweet coffee is not really coffee. Cold coffee is not really coffee.

Every now and then I'll put a little sugar in my coffee. I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm feeling a little uppity or something. Just a little sugar. I do this so seldom that the sugar in the little sugar bowl thingy is usually stuck together in one big blob. So I tap the bowl against the kitchen countertop to loosen the sugar then I carefully shake a little into my cup of coffee. I don't want to dirty a spoon so I just grab whatever is close and stir with that. I rinse it off and put it back where I found it. Don't judge me.

This morning I felt like I needed a sprinkle of sugar in my coffee. So I went through my routine. All was going just fine until what amounted to about four teaspoons of sugar shook from the bowl into the cup. A big chunk made a big splash. I had to wipe off the counter. What am I supposed to do now? I'm not patient enough (and I am too cheap) to pour out the coffee and start over.

So I went all in. At the coffee shop I almost always order a cup of coffee black. I'm almost embarrassed to order something off the menu board. I can't pronounce some of it and have no idea what's in any of it. My wife, on the other hand, fits right in with that crowd. Our friends own a coffee shop and they have a drink named "The Deana." I couldn't even tell you what's in it.

Well, I'm standing in the kitchen with a five pound bag of sugar dissolving in my coffee. Then I do the unthinkable. I head to the refrigerator and get the milk. I think my red-headed fair-skinned son's summer tan is darker than what I'm drinking right now.

But it's pretty good. I could never duplicate it. And I would never consider trying. It was a mistake that turned out good.

One of my favorite Bible verses in Romans 8:28. God has a way of taking my mistakes and making something good out of them. He can and often does fix things for me so that he gets the glory and honor. Just like I would never try to remake the concoction I made this morning, I would never purposefully mess up my life expecting God to wave his hand through the air and fix it for me. But when I do make a mistake I know that I can confess my sin, turn from it and toward him, and he will show his glory somehow.

My responsibility is to acknowledge my mistakes, trust God to help me through them, and the let God be God. He does that God stuff better than anyone.