You’ve had them, right? I know I have. A Mission Fail?…. I prep at night, I tell my kids we’re getting up early so they’re “mentally aware”, the baby’s bag is ready to go. And I quietly think to myself “I just might make it on time to the Sunday early morning prayer.” And why try to attempt a nearly impossible feat with three boys ranging from the ages of 12 to 2? Well…..Because I want to spend some quiet time in God’s presence. Because we do this once a month and let’s just say I’m 0 for ….. oh, who’s counting anyway?
So the alarm clock rings and what’s the first thing I do? Hit the snooze button 3 times in a row. Although I’ve gained an hour because of Daylight Savings Time, I’m still so exhausted. My bright and energetic toddler hits the ground running, comes to my room because he wants to play, which means I’m already running behind. I go to wake up the older boys and my toddler jumped into bed with his oldest brother and they are less than thrilled to leave their warm beds for early morning prayer. Why am I doing this again? Oh yeah, quiet time in God’s presence.
Sometimes the things that are highly sought-after, are the very things that are super difficult to achieve. There’s a lesson there somewhere.
I manage to get everyone dressed (including myself) and the toddler fed, but my oldest wants Mcdonald’s for breakfast instead of the nutritious, already-purchased, breakfast foods at home. Really?! Then I feel the need to explain why we cannot spend every cent on fast-foods just for convenience sake meanwhile the oldest and the middle child start to fake karate-chop each other. I begin to lose my patience, my temper goes up, my voice gets louder and threats involving a “chancleta” and someone’s bottom start pouring out of my mouth…..and there you have your Mission Fail.
I’m late for early morning prayer, I’m in a bad mood and I decide to give up on having quiet time in God’s presence. He’s not going to listen to me anyway. I just said (and thought) something un-mommylike to my darling children who are clearly just acting like children.
After finally arriving to church, we manage to get settled in our chairs, I give my toddler some paper and a pencil while I kneel next to him and plug up my ears with meditation music. Surprisingly enough, I had about 20 minutes to pour my heart out to God, who already knew how my day was going, and in His faithfulness, He let me feel the peace that I needed that morning.
I don’t know if you do this, but I tend to “throw away” my whole day because the morning got off a to a rough start. Maybe you’ve thrown away a perfectly good date night because of an argument. But I honestly believe that, in Christ, we get immediate do-overs if we let Him work in our hearts. Sometimes we’re stubborn, and sometimes we feel like we don’t deserve the do-over, but my friend, you do. And God is waiting there for you to give you the peace that you need to get past that Mission Fail.
Don’t throw away your day for a bad moment. If you let God work in your heart as you persevere through life’s ups and downs, I guarantee you’ll have that much needed peace beyond the Mission Fail. 
