Apparently I'm fallible

So yesterday we went to the lovely Nat and Bruce's wedding in beautiful Perthshire. I've known Nat for many, many years and it was such a lovely time spent watching them both join together. Everything was running a little behind, largely due to the Scottish 'summer' weather, and we ended up leaving a little bit later than we had anticipated. We arrived back at Glasgow airport very late last night with a tired and grumpy baby. By the time we arrived we were very much ready to check into our hotel for the night before then getting up for our 5am flight the next morning.

We got our bags out of the car, went to reception and asked for our key. The lady looked very confused, convinced she had all her rooms occupied. I gave her my reservation (which I had printed and brought with me, along with every other piece of paper I would possibly need, and a lot I wouldn't) and began to get a little annoyed.

After a few minutes of confused murmuring from the receptionist she looked at me with very sorrow filled eyes:

"I'm so sorry Sir, this reservation is for Gatwick Airport, not Glasgow" 

You can pause here to have a good laugh at me... it's ok.. the pain is no longer raw.... 

Momentarily confused, I checked and she was, indeed, correct. We had a room, patiently waiting for us some 440 miles away.

Now this spun me into some strange and confusing emotions... not only was I very angry with myself (I called myself some names which I later had to pray forgiveness for) I was confused, tired and with a family in need of a bed. Literally none of the airport hotels (of which there are, I think, 9) had a room, nor did any of the rooms within 10/15 minutes of the airport. 

I finally found a room in the centre of Glasgow, which as I was booking it on the day, cost many many pounds, we arrived around an hour after arriving at the first hotel.

Here's the thing, this is not like me at all. I am 'Mr Organised'. I have a mug which says "If prayer doesn't work, use a spreadsheet" and was so proud of the spreadsheet which 'ran' our wedding, it even got a mention by Dan in the sermon. 

So what happened? Well, it appears I am fallible... Who knew it? Jess does - she purchased me a plaque which hangs proudly on my wall, it says "I'm not arguing, I'm simply explaining why I'm right"- I think she hoped it would shame me, I'm not sure it did! 

So yes, the lesson this week is I'm fallible. I suspect this means you are as well... even in the areas of life which you think you've 'got covered' - sometimes tiredness, or just other life stuff can sneak in and take over. 

Please don't worry - I'm not quite arrogant enough to think that I'm always right, I obviously learnt this lesson for the first time a long time ago. Sometimes, however, particularly when it hits areas of life which I feel are really in my comfort zone, it comes as a bit of a shock and slaps me round the face.

But that's OK, because God isn't fallible, God is perfect - he would have booked Glasgow airport and got a better deal (although I'm not sure what Jess would have said if I presented her with a stable) - so whilst perfectionism, and striving for it, is not a bad thing, forgetting our own human nature can be.

So, my thought this week? 

Be kind to yourself, as I try to be kind to myself. I'll forgive myself in a few days, perhaps once the Credit Card bill has been paid off! Until that happens, I know that I'm already forgiven for this mistake, and the many more I make each day by our perfect, infallible and awesome God.

P.S. I'm sorry this is a) late and b) shorter than usual - I'm fallible...