"I Love Grace"

“I love grace.”

That’s what my friend said to me, with tears in her eyes, the day she gave me a coffee mug with that one simple word on it, grace.  It caught me off guard because I had never heard it worded quite like that.

I’ll never forget it because it was, no doubt, God extending a much-needed reminder to me through this sweet lady, and it was just one example of His perfectly timed grace in my life. 

Just a few nights later, my son, after a rough day for both of us, went to his room to read his Bible and came back to the living room, overwhelmed by a gentle reminder to him, by the Holy Spirit, of God’s grace. We sat and talked for a few minutes about the love of God and the beauty of His grace. How undeserved it is, how we can do nothing to earn it, and yet how freely it is given. By the end of the conversation, I was overwhelmed and in awe too by the love and grace of my Savior. 

I’ll never forget it because it was, no doubt, God forcing me to take just a few minutes out of my checklist-filled day to talk about His grace in such a deep way at a time when I needed it the most. Just another example of His perfectly-timed grace. 

I took a few minutes that night, after everyone went to sleep, to just reflect on the past few weeks, and what I saw were days drenched in grace. Completely undeserved and abundant grace. 

Grace for every time I messed up.

Grace for every time I should have been a bolder witness, and grace to find the right words when I was.

Forgiving grace. Sustaining grace. 

Grace freely given to me, even when I didn’t give it to others. 

I came to the conclusion that my friend said it just right…“I love grace.”