Writer’s Note: In going through my old prayer journals recently, I found an assorted collection of items I’ve written over the years that I’ve never shared. This was written in 1999. As an aside, do you remember the days when we actually used dictionaries instead of Google? Some things change, but the important things are timeless. – Cindy <><

“Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within! Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin!” We all know the old familiar hymn, but I never really understood what grace is. My Heavenly Father recently gave me a lesson in grace, and as He so often does, He used my children to teach me.

Some days my kids have so much energy that I can hardly keep up with them. On one of these days recently, my four-year-old was in rare form. No matter what I asked, she wouldn’t mind. She didn’t want to put her clothes on or clean her room. She didn’t like what I prepared for dinner and refused to eat. Then she cried when she was not allowed to have any candy. She and the two-year-old were fighting over toys, which movie to watch, and were doing everything but playing nice together. By the end of the day, I was at my wit’s end, and coupled with an undiagnosed thyroid problem, all I wanted to do was fall into a dead sleep.

After prayers as I tucked her into bed, I told her I loved her and wished her sweet dreams. I thought I was about to get some rest, at last. But she asked me, “Mommy, please stay with me awhile, and hold me.” I was about to tell her, “No, Mommy is going to her room,” but then I though about how often my actions to my Father are so like hers were to me. I refuse to do even the simplest things he asks me to do, am obstinate that what He has provided is not what I want, and am rebellious by not sharing what I have with those around me who are in need. Yet when I run to Him and ask Him to hold me and comfort me, He does it anyway. I lay down in her bed with her and held her until she fell asleep.

Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines grace as “unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification; approval, favor, mercy, pardon, a temporary exemption or reprieve” (10th Edition, 1996). If I could change this definition I would like to add that grace is God’s ability to forgive and forget anyway; to love unconditionally anyway. No matter what we’ve done or how many times we’ve failed, God’s grace continues, as long as we continue to seek Him.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Ephesians 1:7-8 (NIV)

There is joy on this journey, on my way home to my Father’s house,
Cindy <><