Sometimes you can do the same thing right a thousand times...

Sometimes you can do the same thing over and over again right, but one day you mess up. Today, as former Youth Intern, I was given the privilege to run and teach Sunday school again. I had been in charge a few times before and in the past everything always went according to plan; today I even felt incredibly confident and more like a Youth Pastor...But it was today that I realized as the famous show How I Met Your Mother points out sometimes you can do something right a thousand times...but that thousand and one times you mess up.

It began with awaking to realize that I had forgotten to go out and buy donuts and when I looked outside the car was strategically parked behind two other vehicles with the tiniest amount of room to pull out. After careful maneuverability, I managed to get to the grocery store but that was not the end of my troubles; when I checking out, I mistakenly typed that I wanted to buy 71 dozen donuts. That would have been crazy, but of course I worked my way out of that mistake easily enough. 

Then once everything was set up, it seemed to be going a lot better. I felt more than confident as I sat on the stool with my cup of coffee in hand, leading the discussion in Sunday school. I felt overly accomplished for getting many of the students to respond, because so often in the mornings no one wants to talk. Things seemed to be going great, and then I ended.

Twenty minutes early.

I had prepared all these discussion questions and scripture, and yet I finished early. At first I counted it as a loss. All I could think was "I've always done so well, what is wrong with me today?" Then I realized how beneficial this morning was for me.

Sometimes, ending early can help create an atmosphere of community that is needed. Sometimes ending early can help the students relax their minds after such a long week with their schooling and jobs. If anything it can show me how to be more prepared for the next time. I realized that I should not look down on this experience, but that I can learn from it. Being intern and having these experiences I have realized that you can learn from everything you do.

Experiences are half the learning in ministry. These thoughts from the dust are from my experience of today.