A White-Out… Hello weekend readers. A few days ago, I was watching PBS because they were putting out all kinds of things that people have contributed to our world—6-year-olds to 90-plus, it was amazing; from turbo engines to better desks for kids in school—there was hundreds if not more that have given us incredible things to use as well as incredible ideas that we can do!

My musings on this reminded me that God has given each of us abilities beyond what we could imagine! So why do we stew in our mistakes…not good. Read the story below…

One story they had was about Bette Nesmith. She worked for a bank and of course, banks must have things correct, however many of the electric typewriters didn’t have anything to correct a boo-boo. She had some art experience so she asked one of her artists who work in oils, “What do they do when there is an error?” He told her “We paint it over.” And that was just what she needed, so she concocted a fluid to paint over her typing errors. It worked and before long, all the secretaries in her building were using what she Mistake Out.

Bette decided to sell the product to marketing agencies and companies. They thought about it—even IBM—but they didn’t think it would work even though she showed them it did! So, she turned her kitchen into a manufacturing facility, and she started selling it on her own. When she sold her enterprise, the tiny white bottles were earning $3.5 million annually on sales of $38 million. The buyer of the product, Gillette Company dubbed it “Liquid Paper” and the sale price was $47.5 million!

Bette Nesmith found great reward in acknowledging she needed help with her mistakes. She was a woman of faith and decided to share her story with many women and men. She would tell people that her Mistake Out (which changed to Liquid Paper) would have never taken off if she had been perfect. Her sharing helped so many people who felt that there was no way to get out of their mistakes. She would remind them that God knows our mistakes and loves us anyway and God is the only one who can make mistakes into something beautiful.

In Psalm 103:12 [Voice] King David shared his problems with his mistakes, saying to his fellow people in his day and it remains for us as well: “You see, God takes all our crimes—our seemingly inexhaustible sins—and removes them. As far as east is from the west, He removes them from us.”

In 2 Corinthians 12:9 [TPT], the Apostle Paul reminds of God’s grace: “But he answered me, My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness. So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me.

So, how should we handle our mistakes? First, DO NOT HIDE THEM because it comes right back at you like a boomerang—it also sticks in your mind which is even worse. Instead, turn them into an opportunity to glorify God. That is what Bette Nesmith did and not only the product she made that helped so many folks, but her outreach to so many people who need to know that God knows our mistakes and loves us anyway.

In closing, let me tell you what Bette Nesmith did with her millions: Half of that money went to her son, Michael, who used that money for a children’s hospital. The other half that was Bette’s, was dispersed to hospitals, churches, outreach for the military and the homeless. Bette didn’t “white out” what hard times could be for people; she used her “white out” to give them a reason to live and thrive. Perhaps we could do the same? AMEN.