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A Culture of Grace

May24

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes on a 1-word prompt, without heavy editing, and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “culture.”

If culture is what you’re surrounded by, then make mine a culture of grace, please.

I want to be known for always showing grace, but unfortunately, I fall far short way too many times.

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My daughter used to complain that, when she cleaned her room, all I would notice was what was still undone rather than the massive amounts that had been done. And when my husband would stop by the grocery store for me, I would notice the one thing that he got wrong rather than the multitudes he had gotten right. I’ve gotten better at that. I make a conscious effort to be grateful.

But just the other day I said something to my daughter that shot her down after she had experienced a personal victory that she wanted to celebrate with me.

I missed it completely.

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I have since repented to her and she has forgiven me, but what I would like to figure out is why I lean toward that in the first place.

Is it the copyeditor in me, trained to find the smallest thing that is wrong? Honestly, it could be, but whereas the goal is no errors on the printed page, there will always be plenty of mistakes in life. Jesus came in grace and truth. I want to be like Jesus.

There is a time for truth, couched in love, but there is always an abundance of grace.

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Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

May10

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for 5 minutes on a one-word prompt without heavy editing and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “practice.”

Everyone has heard the saying, “practice makes perfect.” Well, I’m here to tell you, that’s a lie.

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Let’s say you are learning to play the piano. You have a piece of sheet music in front of you, but you have never actually heard the piece before. So you do your best, practicing and practicing to memorize the music.

Then a music teacher comes along and asks you to play the piece you’ve been working on. So you pull out that music you’ve been practicing and, lo and behold, you find out you’ve been playing parts of it incorrectly the whole time!

So did all your practice make that piece perfect? No. So, I am thinking the saying needs to be “perfect practice makes perfect.” You really need to know that what you’re practicing is the right thing.

My sister in law and her husband just divorced after more than 30 years of marriage. One of their main problems was that neither of them knew how to communicate. She would point out things that he was doing wrong; he would acknowledge that and work to change his ways. After awhile, he would think, Huh, I must be doing OK because she hasn’t said anything. Meanwhile, she’s seeing him slide back into old habits and think, He’s just doing things the way he always did them, so he must not care! Why even bother saying anything?

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The problem was that he had been practicing imperfectly. And he didn’t have anyone around to show him where he was going wrong. If you take two broken people who spent too many years playing the piece the wrong way, and only one of them wants to put the work into learning the music correctly, well, giving up is inevitable.

Coaching—in music, in sports, in life, in marriage—is essential.

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Just One Touch

Apr26

This post is part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for 5 minutes on a prompt without any heavy editing and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “touch.”

All she thought she needed was to touch the hem of His robe. She knew that He had healed others and she had waited a long, long time for God to heal her from her affliction.

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The crowds pressed in, but she pushed through and reached out her hand.

Just a touch.

Just His robe.

That would be enough.

And it was. She knew as soon as she touched him that she was healed. She felt the effects in her body.

And He felt the effects in His. “Somebody touched Me,” He said to His disciples.

The disciples shrugged it off. The crowds were tight around them. Of course someone touched Him. How could they not.

But He knew it was different. He knew that someone with faith had purposely reached out to Him, longing to be healed.

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He stopped, He saw the woman, and He reached out to her. “And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace'” Luke 8:47-48.

Jesus sees you. Reach out in faith. He doesn’t always bring physical healing, we know that. But He will always bring peace.

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Do The Next Thing

Apr19

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes without heavy editing on a one-word prompt. Today we talk about the word “next.” 

I have a tendency to get overwhelmed fairly easily. I can look at all the things I have to do, all the things that are coming up, and stress about what that’s going to look like to my low-energy body. And I have a heart rhythm issue that rears its ugly head when I am stressed. This week had that over-stressed potential.

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My husband has been gone this week, my daughter and mother in law, who lives with us, have both been sick, and life still had to go on. I still had to have food in the house. I still had to care for my 15-month-old grandson most of those days.

And then our water heater went out.

And I have 36 people coming for Easter.

And my oldest is graduating from college in a couple of weeks.

And now I’ve got the cold my daughter had, albeit a light version.

So how do I maintain peace and not let the stress, well, stress me out?

Just do the next thing. Don’t look too far down the road. Just take the next step.

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And I breathe deeply, letting the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

It’s oh so necessary.

Especially when I just now got a text that my husband’s flight home this afternoon has been cancelled.

Breathe in peace. Breathe out stress. Breathe in peace. Breathe out stress.

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Lacking in Nothing

Apr12

This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for 5 minutes on a one-word prompt and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “lack.”

Don’t we all want to be without lack? We want to be able to have all that we need all the time. Our bank accounts always have money in them. Our fridges always have food. Our cars always have gas. Our lives have meaning and our hearts are full of love.

Sounds idyllic doesn’t it?

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Yet what does James, the brother of Jesus, say is necessary for us to be without lack? Let’s listen in to his letter to the 12 tribes of Israel who were scattered in the dispersion.

“Count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

Whaaat?

Ugh.

I’m sorry, but I don’t want to have to face trials in order to be perfect and complete. That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.

Why can’t we just get that by being good? By doing what we’re supposed to do? By crossing our T’s and dotting our I’s?

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Because, my dear friends, that doesn’t produce steadfastness. It doesn’t make us stronger. It doesn’t drive us to the arms of Jesus.

In her brand new book Glorious Weakness: Discovering God In All We Lack, Alia Joy says, glorious weakness“Sometimes the holiest ground is the emptiest.”

In all our trials, in our lack here on this broken planet, we find Jesus. Perfection and completeness won’t happen until we see Him face to face.

Press on. Lacking nothing will be worth it in the end.

 

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