Sundays in the South: Count All Mistakes as Love

SUNDAYS IN THE SOUTH: COUNT ALL MISTAKES AS LOVE At my daughter’s wedding, I shared a little piece of wisdom that has stayed with me for years. My former wife’s great-aunt Lucille had a habit of signing her letters with five simple words: “Count all mistakes as love.” I’ve thought about those words a lot. The people we love will get things wrong. They’ll say the wrong thing, disappoint us, and sometimes leave us wondering how they could know us so well and still get it so wrong. And if we’re honest, we’ll do the same to them. We’re human. We get tired, frustrated, and caught up in our own struggles. Sometimes our words come out wrong, even when our hearts mean well. What if we gave each other a little more grace? What if we were quicker to forgive and less interested in keeping score? The garden reminds me that not every rose blooms perfectly. Some petals are bruised, and some stems grow crooked. But we don’t give up on the whole plant because one bloom disappoints us. We keep tending it. Maybe our relationships deserve that same patience. This doesn’t mean accepting cruelty or overlooking real hurt. It means allowing room for honest mistakes, sincere apologies, and the kind of forgiveness that keeps small things from becoming big walls between us. As I watched my daughter begin this new chapter of her life, I was reminded that lasting love isn’t about getting everything right. It’s about showing up, giving grace, and choosing to love one another through the imperfect parts. So this week, give grace freely. Apologize when you need to. Forgive when you can. And don’t let the small things rob you of the people who matter most. Count all mistakes as love. Five little words. A lifetime of wisdom.

October 25, 2026