The Country Club Near Disaster

My first real job was a dishwasher at the Shelby Country Club. I was never really good at  cleaning dishes, so I was ecstatic the day I moved up the country club ladder and became  a full-fledged waitress. I couldn’t wait to get my cute red ruffled uniform and white shoes  that went with the job. Soon, I was making milk shakes, serving ice cream bars and hot  dogs to wet pool kids needing sustenance. The day soon came that I would be working evening dinner shift. I would need to memorize  the menu, answer questions, get their drink orders, serve the meal and basically look like  I knew what I was doing. What could go wrong?  One night, on a busy evening, I was given a particular section of tables near the front of  the dining room.  I still remember the exact table where it happened. Mr. Lederer, the President of the Country Club at the time, came in with his family. He was in my section!  Not to look incompetent, I ran back to the kitchen and freaked out with my fellow staff.  After reassurance from the kitchen staff, I went back out into the dining room, with  confidence and a bright smile, took their order. All went well until it was time to deliver the  meals. I came out with this hefty tray filled with dangling dinner plates. Instead of setting my hefty  tray down on the tray stand, I tried to balance it while distributing the dishes to the family members.  Everything went downhill at that point if you know what I mean. Mr. Lederer’s  meal landed in his lap and not sure what else went where. Everything went  ever-which-aways. This is Texan for “scattered in all directions.” At this point, I lost all memory of what took place. I was horrified. The only thing I  remember was Mr. Lederer’s response. He was so kind, so gracious and so encouraging  as I tried to clean things up. His response went a long way for a young kid. We all need  more Mr. Lederer’s around. That near disaster didn’t destroy my waitress career at all. In fact, I waitressed all the way  through college and loved it. I could have just thrown in the towel (and the tray) that day  and called it quits. But I didn’t. Since those country club days, I’ve had a lot of jobs. I’ve  had some successes and some failures. I believe God intentionally allows us to fail at  times. My failures are a constant reminder of how much I need Him. God teaches me  in my failures…if I let Him. Bob Goff in his amazing book “Love Does” had a similar waiter experience. He writes  “Things that go wrong can shape us or scar us. I’ve had some things go well in my life  and some things not go so well, just like you. More have gone well than have gone  poorly, but I’m not trying to keep score because I have a different way I measure those  things now. God finds us in our failures and our successes, and He says that while we  used to think one way about things, now He wants us to think another way about those  same things. And for me I’ve realized that I used to be afraid of failing at the things that  really mattered to me, but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.”  Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.