Being Corrected is not Failing.

“Correction, it’s actually this…” sounds bossy doesn’t it?  It does to me.  Correction is something that happens all the time. It started when I was a little kid, don’t run in the house, don’t hit your brother, or put a period there, put your homework here….the list goes on and on.  I don’t remember how I reacted as a kid, but I’m guessing with a little bit of sass or tears, (mom and dad you can confirm or deny this statement)……..well sometimes I want to do the same here in Costa Rica.  

Even though I know that learning a language is  a rollercoaster, I seem to forget.   I have felt failure after failure with the language and have been corrected over and over again. Last week during class   I me felt like I was 10 again.  I would stop and try to pronounce a word again, just to be corrected.  It was frustrating, but my teacher was doing her job to help me learn the language, after all I learned my first language by hearing it.  A few other times correction has happened amongst teammates, my professors and tour guides.  These ‘on the verge of tears’ moments are frustrating, but deep down I know they are good, and I know I am learning. 
we were reading out loud, reading aloud for me has always been a challenge in English, let alone Spanish.

I will admit, I have always been that “goody-two-shoes-always-gets-good-grades-let-me-do-it-on-my-own-I-want-to-be-better-than-you” type, you know those kind of people.  Well learning Spanish, I can’t be that type, and I can’t compare myself either, after all comparison is the thief of joy.  

So now what? 

Now, I said confidently: “No entiendo” (I don’t understand) or even flip back to English and say “I’m confused”.   Saying these phrases is not failing.  When I was 2-8 years old learning English , (the age my Spanish probably sounds now) I was confused, I didn’t understand,  and sometimes I needed help and needed correction. In those moments, I don’t think I compared myself to the other 2-8 year olds, so I will try not to now.  Instead, I will ask questions, I will use examples and I will ask to be corrected.  I am learning and correction comes with learning.  David Mulder one of my education professors once told me that disciplining a student is loving them, you’re correcting their behavior to help them in the future- not only is that advice logical, but also kind of biblical… (insert: really Kayla a Godly lesson…yes, really.)

In thinking about this concept, and how frustrating yet helpful it seems it makes me think of the Skit Guys skit about being chiseled by God- how he continues to take away every thing that is hindering your relationship with Him. Something’s are easy and fall right off, some things feel like you got hit in the head with a two-by-four.  Asking questions is the easy part, dropping my pride and making mistakes is a little harder.  So I don’t know what I might need to learn emotionally or spiritually out of this process yet, but I think part of it might have to do with discipline and correction.  Because in Hebrews it’s described that we have earthly fathers that discipline us, and we respect them.  My Heavenly Father is doing the same thing, discipline me, correcting me, chiseling me, shaping me to walk more and more with him every day. It is necessary, I need, and deep down I crave it.  Living this life not wanting things to improve would be boring, but with improvement and growth also comes correction and discipline.   But the good news is, “we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken….” –Hebrews 12: 28. 

So I will take a deep breath, because being corrected is not failing.