Grace, Part A

Westberryworkingdad and I have been studying the topic of grace. Chuck Swindoll is currently teaching on the topic (Book Title: The Grace Awakening!)and his message, for us, couldn't be more timely.

First, a definition.

"Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace." -Rev. Donald Barnhouse

... grace surrounds us,in fact, envelops us every day of our lives. Grace is behind all of God’s actions. Grace prompts God’s involvement in our lives, it takes the galling exactness out of our efforts to please Him, and it relieves us from the choking grip of needless guilt. (Message Mates)

Grace is the opposite of legalism. Grace provides us, as Christians, with tremendous freedom (freedom worth fighting for! At the least, freedom worth writing about...)

Our local paper used to run a periodic column written by, no small coincidence, a reporter named Grace. In her column, Grace listed the social "goings on" of the folks living in WestBerry. "Mrs. Smith traveled to Detroit to visit her sister for five days," she would write. "The Brown family hosted the Carr family for dinner on Sunday. Mrs. Allen phoned Mrs. Peters to offer get well wishes."

The births of my two oldest boys were announced in Grace's column.

I was thrilled to sit with Grace for a little while recently (she is now in her late 90's). I love to pick her brain and to hear her tell me "who is related to whom, when such-and-such accident occurred, and how the XYZ farmstead looked before it burned down."

I am so grateful for Grace, for the time she spent with me over the years during our visits after church and in her home (all of her rooms/tables/hallways filled with piles and piles and piles of newspapers. And the "constant presence" of the portrait of her mother).

I'm grateful for God's grace in our daily "comings and goings."

How have you given been given grace?

Additional note: I enjoy reading this blog, "The Daily Grace." Cathi, the author, takes time (daily) to observe grace at work in her life. I've considered taking on her 30 day grace project as a way to train myself to even further appreciate grace.