There’s so much power in the way you respond to someone in their mess. My grandfather taught me this back when I was a teenager, but it wasn’t until recent years that I truly understood how big his love was for me.

In 8 years, I managed to tear the door completely off of his flatbed truck, bend the forks straight down on the farm tractor, and rip the siding off of the garage wall. Of course, these are just a few of the highlights…every week was a venture in destruction and a lesson in patience.

He never scolded me or made me feel stupid. His patience caused me to desperately want to please him. I actually think my desire to live up to his expectation resulted in me embracing his crazy work ethic.

My grandfather taught me to create a place where people can fail successfully.

The truth is that life is messy and none of us are perfect. We all make mistakes, and we will all be around people who make mistakes that affect us. But what would happen in the world if we made room for people to make mistakes, let them learn how to fail, and helped them get back up? I wrote about this on the blog this week. Check it out if you have a hard time being patient when people mess up, or if you don’t know how to manage yourself when you make mistakes.

My prayer for us this week is that we’d all begin to create legacies of mercy and cultures of excellence through the way we deal with others’ mistakes.

Here’s to all the knuckleheads and those who love them well! Blessings, Kris