Astronauts and Failure

Children often see astronauts as heroes and we adults see them as people born with the right stuff. 

But, even astronauts fail.

This clip is a compilation of astronauts trying to move around on the moon. It is one giant fall after another as they work to move in those huge suits and do it with some semblance of coordination in a gravity environment that is very different from earth.They are learning to walk all over again.

It is easy for children to see a failure as being an indication of whether or not they will ever be successful in a skill. As parents we need to watch for this attitude and gently remind our children that failure is not the end of accomplishment; it is the beginning of learning.

The astronauts in the clip learned from their missteps and gradually became more adept at walking on the moon. When we make a mistake, we can learn and move on to do better. This is especially true when it comes to our sin failures. We cannot make ourselves failure-free in order to get to heaven, but God wants us to live a healthy, happy, loving, obedient life. When we sin, we can repent and our loving God forgives us.  Then He helps us to get back up, brush off that moon dust, and learn from that failure.

Here is a beautiful song prayer for parents. Let it remind you of God’s grace and His willingness to bring good out of your parental missteps.