Grace and Snow

-
This afternoon, Dave, Jen, their son, and I ended up sitting down and eating lunch together, and as we sat I found my rather easily distractable self staring out the window from time to time. It wasn't that I was bored with the company, as we seem to laugh more every time we're together. I was simply mesmerized by the snow. It's been falling for over a week, and I found myself saying this morning that I was sick of driving in it. However there's something in my heart that goes varying degrees of giddy when I see it falling. It's similar to the feeling I also get when I see Christmas trees with lights, ornaments hung, candles lit, and nativity scenes set out. It's the start of something new, exciting. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow!!!" (Isaiah 1:18, exclamation points mine) This verse seems to wrap itself around my head every time I look at the snow. It flows through my thoughts as I drive up the hill. It allows the snow to serve as a continual reminder of the grace I have been given, and am overwhelmed with daily. You see, I tend to forget things easily. I need frequent reminders if I am to accomplish anything. "Though your sins be as scarlet..." Ever tried to get a red stain out of a white shirt? I find that to be a rather perplexing task, and honestly doubt my own ability to completely obliterate the stain. "They shall be as white as snow." That kind of clean is something I am incapable of accomplishing. And yet it's not up to me. All I have to do is come to Him and accept. No matter how many times I fall short, He is able to make up the difference. In my weakness He is strong. When all around me is dark, He is light. When I fall, He picks me up, He lifts me up "on wings like eagles." What incredible grace! 
As I contemplate His grace to me, I realize the opportunity I have to model this daily. Each day, I will rub shoulders with 25 other people who need grace as much as I do. How do I show them this grace that has been given to me, and which belongs to them as well? This has been one of the most incredible lessons to work through for me this semester. It has made me reevaluate everything that I do, the thoughts I think, and the words that I say. It so often feels like an uphill battle, and yet, He is faithful. His grace is amazing, and I pray that it will overflow in my life daily.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Easter Week

-
Image
    It’s been a while! This summer marks three years of living life and seeking normal in the United States. I haven’t figured it out. But I have realized that writing helps, so I’m going to do more of that. Putting my thoughts here sometimes feels like I’m writing to a void, but if you’re a human and you’re reading this, I'm grateful. I'm just looking for a place for my thoughts to belong. I’m working on a new title, too, so stay tuned.      Easter week holds a wide range of emotions for me and at the close of Holy Week, they're feeling a little more pronounced. I have happy memories of childhood celebrations with my grandmother and immediate family. Chocolate and celebrations of Christ’s resurrection are closely associated in my core memories, which can’t be a bad thing. In adulthood, learning how to celebrate with new traditions has been a difficult process. When I approach this week, though, several key memories from the recent past are on my mind. Near the beginning of
Read more

Commissioning

-
It's funny to discover how God has directed our paths even when we didn't realize He was doing it. My pastor had scheduled a Commissioning Service for me during tonight's evening service on Wednesday, and we were thankful God had directed him this way when we found out I was leaving on Monday! Tonight's service was a huge blessing. A former missionary, and great student of the Word, gave the challenge to me out of Micah 6:8. This was very special because God had begun to use that verse in my life during the time at Csehy this summer. Now it's meaning is intensified for me.   " He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8  The first two commands pertain to dealing with mankind, and the last to my relationship with God. If God is first in a person's life, everything else will fall into place. This is my prayer as I enter this new phase in m
Read more

Advent Week 1: Hope

-
Image
Advent Week 1: Hope Hope is not easy to write about, but as we begin this season of Advent, it has been helpful to me to reflect why hope is difficult. I hope that my reflections encourage you in some small way.  I have always been a do-it-myself kind of person. If someone needs to step up and take action, I will feel compelled to do it. If a better grade can be achieved, I’ll figure out what I could have done to get it. If a system or program could be more efficient, I’ll find a better way. The last two years have been very frustrating for me. It seems as though grief, loss, pain and so many other things, are rampant. The other day I saw an instagram post that encouraged readers to do “whatever felt right, because nothing matters anymore.” Yikes. It resonates, though. I wish that a word, deed or action could do away with the problems racking the world. And yet, I find myself wondering if these problems - pain, heartache, grief and loss - had been lurking beneath the surface, until the
Read more