As I learn about grace and the unconditional properties that come with it, I have found that it appears in many different forms. God extends grace to all of us daily but we must be intentional in looking for grace and accepting it each day.
Recently grace filled my heart fully even though I was unaware of it at the time. It crept into my heart secretly and completed me in ways that only a favorite food can do when the taste lingers on your tongue well after the bite is gone. Grace came in the form of my dad- a gentle, practical man who has always watched my back and who at the age of 91 continues to do so because he understands the power of grace. My dad wants to protect me from myself and decisions I have made to allow me to be successful even when he is no longer with me. My dad selflessly extended grace to insure that my future is full of promise and hope. My lesson in all of this is to pay the gift of grace forward to all those I am able to share it with.
This amazing man taught me my first lessons about grace and continues to do the same today. I was not able to identify it as grace but as I have grown in my relationship with God, I have learned about unconditional love which shows up as grace time after time. We are given “a free and ready favor” called grace by God our Father. Our knowing and willingness to accept the gift of grace puts us in line with what God extends to us unconditionally and asks us to do something with each day. Grace is meant to be shared and freely passed onto others. Let grace fill your hearts and when it is full, willingly sacrifice your gift of grace so that someone else may know unconditional love. This is the lesson that my dad shares by his example each and every day.
Today I praise and thank the Lord for the gift of grace in the example of my dad! I thank the Lord for the lessons he teaches me and for the life of grace he has lived and continues to live. May I learn to live a life full of grace as my daddy has and as My Father God has called me to. AMEN!
