I got a phone call the other night from one of my younger sisters, Shante. "Dianna, go listen to the song on YouTube," she said after informing me that I have to learn a new song for my sister Alesha's wedding by this Saturday.
Uh oh.
Immediately my mind traveled back to 2004. I had to sing a duet called "The Prayer" by Yolanda Adams and Donnie McClurkin at my brother Andre's wedding. I only had a few days to learn it and uh, let's just say, that didn't go well.
On the day of the wedding when it was my turn to sing, I opened my mouth, and it was like someone deleted my mental computer. I completely forgot the words! And the poor dancers that worked so hard to sync their choreography with the lyrics, were totally thrown off by my delayed start. It was a hot mess!
My brother still laughs at me to this day... and it was all caught on camera, of course.
Even though it was funny and humiliating, it was also a learning experience. I now know how my mind works. If I don't have ample time to absorb lyrics to a song, I usually won't remember when it's crunch time. So you can be sure I'm printing and taking my words with me on Saturday!
This makes me think about how, often, when we mess up we see it only as a failure. But change your focus. Rather than looking at what went wrong, draw out the lesson from it.
Trust me. There's always a teachable moment from which you can gain invaluable wisdom to equip you to do better in the future. No matter what you go through, God, the consummate teacher, can use it to enhance your knowledge going forward.
Although the test or trial doesn't feel so great while you're in it, the new insight you'll take away from it, will be a tremendous blessing to you.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may you be empowered to prosper!
Dianna Hobbs
