growing in grace

If each of my years could be labeled by one word (theme or lesson), last year, that word would have been contentment.  I’m not saying that I’ve mastered contentment but I sought it out, and the Lord graciously grew me in that area.  What I learned most was that contentment was, and continues to be, a daily choice- fueled by the state of gratefulness before God. 

In my desire to be transformed into the image of Christ, this year’s word, without a doubt, is grace. 

Above all else, I long to be a woman of grace, humility, and wisdom.  The three go hand in hand, don’t they? 

You may not know this, but grace doesn’t come easily for me.  To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t even something I knew I needed, until I asked the Lord into my heart and years later, He gave me the gift of children.

Of course, I’m not talking about grace in the form of femininity, speech, or movement.  I hope I have some of that kind of grace as well. 

I’m speaking about the divine, perpetual, and free gift of God’s grace. Sure, it’s evident now- salvation is only the beginning to a lifetime of understanding the depth and the breadth of this often incomprehensible gift. 

Recently, I find myself drawn to pursue, cultivate, and learn everything I can about grace.  I’m specifically interested in how it relates to me as the undeserved recipient, how I see and treat others because of it, and ultimately, how my love and obedience for the Lord will deepen as a result of growing in grace.

Consequently, my heartfelt prayer is to impart these virtues unto my girls.  For when they think of their dear mother one day, I hope they will think, “My mother was not perfect and I am grateful that she never expected me to be either.  She learned to give me loving grace and blessed my life because of it.”

I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still, I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God, I am what I am.

~John Newton (author of the hymn, Amazing Grace)