Learning from my mistakes #1 : Cussing

I have to admit as I logged in to post this, I saw that picture of the grilled cheese burger from my previous post. Wow, I'm hungry now.

So last week was Carter's spring break. Ang had a very wise idea to not just sit around the house eating bon bon's and catching up on the latest season of Real Housewives but instead do some Home Improvement.

I know, this is all starting to make sense already isn't it?

So one of the projects she had me working on was a minor face lift to our guest bathroom. Instead of spending ridiculous amounts of cash, we opted for some well-chosen changes that together made a big difference. On this particular day I had built/replaced/repaired a number of things and to this point was batting 1.000. For those of you who don't know sports, I was perfect.

I'd replaced the TP hangar, put in a new towel rack and was now on to installing the new light fixture. Let's just say (and yes, I did turn the power off before I started) that things didn't go perfectly. And let's go on to say that I didn't run my reaction through the WWJD filter. And let's finish up by saying that my wonderful 8 year old son heard a couple words usually reserved for those moments when the censor guy at ESPN doesn't hit mute quick enough during games.

I knew right away I'd messed up. Ang quickly summoned Carter upstairs before any eternal damage was done and I finished my project.

But it kept bothering me. Because I'd seen this play out before. Only I was the kid.

I've said before, I inherited my temper or at least caught how to handle frustrating situations. Mind you, this is not how I handle every stressful situation. That would have ended my youth ministry career quickly and left me with nothing but 15 minutes of YouTube fame.

So what got me is I know I can handle myself. Sometimes I don't.

So I did what my dad never did. I went and got Carter and sat down on the steps and talked with him. Now let me be clear, I have an awesome father. I'm blessed and wouldn't trade a thing but here's the deal. He's not perfect. And neither am I. And my son needs to know that.

And even more than that, he needed me to apologize. So we talked it out and I admitted I was being less then super. I told him that wasn't how we handle ourselves and I wanted him to learn sooner than I did how to deal with moments when things don't go as planned.

But I also wanted him to know that I'm not perfect. I'm trying. But I will make mistakes and what makes us better people is not pretending to be perfect or living in such a way where things are easy but in admitting our mistakes, learning from them and doing our best to never repeat them.

By the way, the light looks incredible and it made the next 4 hours of installing the new faucet a great opportunity to practice what I had just preached. Happy to announce it was a success. There were a couple close calls though.....