Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2

In my spare time I love gardening, I especially love working with plants that bear fruit; strawberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers!

But as I was caring for them this week, I realised something that I know Captain Obvious would have already known. That is, we need to care for our plant and provide the right environment for the fruit to grow; but we aren’t responsible for creating the fruit, that comes automatically if we make sure conditions are right.

So, what are the conditions? Good soil, sunlight, and water for the plant to grow, but then we also need to protect the plants from pests and disease.

The possums are treating our vege patch like their personal grazing table, so now I’ve got possum catcher listed on my C.V. – 6 possums relocated so far 😊

But isn’t this the same with people? Jesus wants us to provide an environment that offers care, education, and spiritual support to children, families, and staff to grow men and women who also love God and want to follow Him. Not only should we provide a good environment, but we should also protect these children and families from the nasties; Making sure that we are a child safe organisation is just one part of this.

Permission to make mistakes

The list of goodness that we can provide our children is endless, but I want to highlight one in particular: that’s the permission to make mistakes. When children know that their failures will be treated with grace and forgiveness, they will more likely keep trying until they get it right.

There’s a great story that involved a teacher asking one group to make the perfect pot, and another group to make as many pots as possible. You know what happened? The group that made the most pots also made the best pot! It was the practice that made it perfect.

So go out today and have a crack! Knowing you are you one step closer to success 🙂

Question: How can you show your child that’s it’s ok to fail?

Be blessed. Yvette Wynne