Lesson learned: I'm all for second chances

Nick had a rough day. He made some not so great choices throughout the day which meant that I was going to send a note home to his parents. He knew it was coming but when he saw me sit down at my desk and take the dreaded orange paper out of my drawer, reality finally hit. After filling out the paper, I looked around for him and saw that he was crying in the corner. When I tried to talk to him, he was doing the thing that happens when you're crying. so. hard. that. you. can't. say. more. than. one. word. without. gasping. for. air.

In this moment, I had to make a decision. Was I going to stick to my guns and send the note home which I knew would result in him getting grounded and me losing the best teacher in the world status for a little while? Or was there maybe a different lesson that could be learned here?

Since I'm all for second chances, I decided to make a deal with him. We talked about what he had done wrong, talked about what he could do better tomorrow, and then I told him that I would leave the note on my desk and we would see how tomorrow went. If it went well, I would throw away the note. If not, he would take it home tomorrow. He was super surprised by my deal but he quickly agreed, stopped hyperventilating, and packed up to go home all blotchy-faced and puffy-eyed.

Nick was a rock star the next day, the note didn't go home, he was not grounded, and I am still the best teacher in the world.

I am so grateful that we have a loving Savior who is also all for second chances (and third and fourth and fifth...). There are times when, for whatever reason, we choose not to listen to the Teacher and we give into temptation, take the easy road, follow the crowd, give into the natural man, etc.

Christ knows that even the good students may make bad choices sometimes. But He also knows what is in our hearts, He knows our divine potential, and He knows exactly how it feels to feel weak and to give into temptation. Because of that, He is pleading with us to let Him strengthen us, forgive us, and remember our sins no more (D&C 58:42).

With Nick, my goal wasn't to see him suffer. My goal was to help him learn from his mistakes, remind him that he is a good kid, and empower him to be better tomorrow. I feel like it's the same with the Savior—His goal isn't to make us suffer for our sins. He already took care of the suffering part. His goal is to help us remember who we really are, get us back on track again, and help us move past our sins and mistakes.

Talk to your Heavenly Father about what went wrong today, make a plan with Him for what you're going to do better tomorrow, and then allow Christ to give you a second chance.

And here's a wonderful Mormon Message about forgiveness and mercy. I would really recommend watching it. It's very honest and powerful.