opportunities

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How Mistakes Can Become Opportunities

From time to time I repost an article I’ve written some time ago. This post was written in December 2012. Enjoy

Sometimes mistakes can turn into opportunities.  A week ago, a man came into the church and asked if I could help him with some grocery money.  This is not an unusual occurrence – on a weekly basis, people make the same or similar requests.

I can think of one guy who has come in enough over the years that we’re on a first name basis.  One time he asked for grocery money or vouchers, and when I didn’t have any, he asked for a computer.  When I told him I didn’t have a computer to give him, he asked for a guitar.

I actually did have a guitar I could give him!  I had just bought a new one and my old guitar was taking up space at home.  When I gave him the guitar, he right away thanked me, and then, with hardly taking a breath, asked me if I had a case for it!

A couple of days later, I saw him walking downtown on the main street, with my old guitar in his hand (no case).  But about a week after that, he came to me again and asked if I had another guitar, because the one I gave him was stolen.  I had to break the news to him that I had run out of old guitars.

He accepted the news quite well.  I say that because some people don’t take a negative answer very well.  Sometimes they get upset, so I’m careful not to promise what I can’t deliver.

That’s how I made my mistake a week ago.  There was something about this man who had asked me for grocery money.  As I listened to him briefly tell me his situation, something about his story seemed to stick with me.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything to give him at the time.

I told him to come back the next day and I’d have a grocery store gift card for him.  That was all fine, except I forgot to purchase the gift card.  So, when the appointed time came, I still had nothing for him.

I quickly looked around to see, if by chance, there was a card we could give him . . .  nothing.  Then my associate, offered to go and purchase a gift card while the man waited at the church with me.  It seemed like our only solution, so of he went.

I decided to use the time to get to know this man a little bit.  We had a conversation about his life, what had gone wrong, and his plan to get back on track.

Then I just started sharing about how God loved him and wanted to help him in his life.  I explained to him who Jesus was, what He came to do, and what He has offered us.  By the time my associate came back with the gift card, we were talking about how he could have a relationship with Jesus.

In the end, I prayed with him, gave him a Bible and the grocery gift card.  He left satisfied on a couple of levels.

Here’s the thing:  If I had not forgotten to get that gift card, I would have had a brief conversation with that man and sent him on his way.  But my mistake led to an opportunity to share Christ’s love with a man who really needed it right then.  I need to remember to always look for opportunities … even in mistakes.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question:  What mistakes have you made that turned into opportunities for you?  Leave your comment below.

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Missed Opportunities

I don’t get too excited about puzzle building. I’m just not very good at it. That’s why on Christmas morning, when an anonymous gift of a puzzle showed up under the tree, addressed to our family, I was not all that excited.

My wife, Lily, on the other hand, loves to build puzzles. She’s an expert puzzle builder. Naturally, I suspected her to be behind this family present.

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The puzzle was the 4D kind. (Before you screw up your face and think I got my numbers wrong, the 4th dimension in this puzzle is time.) We didn’t have to put on crazy glasses while fitting the pieces together … although, that may have made it more fun.

This present was my wife’s scheming attempt to get the whole family to do something together, rather than have some of us glued to the TV, watching sports over the holidays.

I’m sure she thought, “I know Paul will like this because it’s a puzzle of the city of Toronto where he grew up.” And she worked that angle for a while by handing me pieces with street names on them and saying “I don’t know where this street is. Maybe you can find where it goes, Paul”.

She knew Karlie would be up for doing something together as a family – after all, she came all the way from Calgary to be with us for Christmas. But Mike, our son, was the wild card.

I can’t figure out how she thought building a puzzle would be something he would want to do. Maybe she thought three out of four wasn’t bad, and we might be able to cajole him into participating.

It reminded me of when we would make gingerbread houses at Christmas. Each of us would make his own house and then we’d arrange them in a village setting. Mike never wanted to do it, but we pressured him into it each year. He would try to build a monstrosity of a mansion, only to get discourage because he didn’t understand the concept of having supports to handle the span of the roof. He was always the first to give up.

It was no surprise that as soon as he saw the puzzle he said, “No, I’m not building it.” I had similar sentiments but I didn’t want to burst Lil’s bubble so soon after opening the present.

I helped at first, but quickly faded … maybe it was the turkey dinner, or maybe I just needed a nap after all the sitting I had done in the past few days. When I woke from my slumber, Karlie and Lil had quite a bit accomplished.

A few days later, when it was suggested by you-know-who that we finish building the puzzle, Karlie was quick to take up the challenge. Mike was nowhere to be found, and I, well, I had something else I needed to do … I think … in another room.

The next morning, I came downstairs to find the completed puzzle. It looked just like a real view of the city. It was then that it dawned on me how I missed out on building it with my family. It could have been a time of talking and laughing, sharing time together.

Here is the thing: Even though I don’t like building puzzles, I should have sucked it up and participated, not to miss the opportunity. This year there will be many opportunities at work, in relationships, with God. I don’t want to miss those opportunities this year.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question: How do you plan to make the most of opportunities this year?

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Mistakes and Opportunities

Sometimes mistakes can turn into opportunities.  A week ago, a man came into the church and asked if I could help him with some grocery money.  This is not an unusual occurrence – on a weekly basis, people make the same or similar requests.

I can think of one guy who has come in enough over the years that we’re on a first name basis.  One time he asked for grocery money or vouchers, and when I didn’t have any, he asked for a computer.  When I told him I didn’t have a computer to give him, he asked for a guitar.

turn-mistakes-into-opportunitiesI actually did have a guitar I could give him!  I had just bought a new one and my old guitar was taking up space at home.  When I gave him the guitar, he right away thanked me, and then, with hardly taking a breath, asked me if I had a case for it!

A couple of days later, I saw him walking downtown on the main street, with my old guitar in his hand (no case).  But about a week after that, he came to me again and asked if I had another guitar, because the one I gave him was stolen.  I had to break the news to him that I had run out of old guitars.

He accepted the news quite well.  I say that because some people don’t take a negative answer very well.  Sometimes they get upset, so I’m careful not to promise what I can’t deliver.

That’s how I made my mistake a week ago.  There was something about this man who had asked me for grocery money.  As I listened to him briefly tell me his situation, something about his story seemed to stick with me.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything to give him at the time.

I told him to come back the next day and I’d have a grocery store gift card for him.  That was all fine, except I forgot to purchase the gift card.  So, when the appointed time came, I still had nothing for him.

I quickly looked around to see, if by chance, there was a card we could give him . . .  nothing.  Then Andrew, my associate, offered to go and purchase a gift card while the man waited at the church with me.  It seemed like our only solution, so Andrew left.

I decided to use the time to get to know this man a little bit.  We had a conversation about his life, what had gone wrong, and his plan to get back on track.

Then I just started sharing about how God loved him and wanted to help him in his life.  I explained to him who Jesus was, what He came to do, and what He has offered us.  By the time Andrew came back with the gift card, we were talking about how he could have a relationship with Jesus.

In the end, I prayed with him, gave him a Bible and the grocery gift card.  He left satisfied on a couple of levels.

Here’s the thing:  If I had not forgotten to get that gift card, I would have had a brief conversation with that man and sent him on his way.  But my mistake led to an opportunity to share Christ’s love with a man who really needed it right then.  I need to remember to always look for opportunities … even in mistakes.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  What mistakes have you made that turned into opportunities for you?  Leave your comment below.