Grace

 

I have been struggling with the word Grace.  I have heard about God's Grace my whole life in sermons, songs, and many platitudes.  I have always wondered, ‘What is Grace’???  My new pastor defined it recently as, “The unconditional love given to those who don’t deserve it.” Even with this definition in hand, the personal meaning of Grace has eluded me until just recently when I was given a real life example of Grace.

My friend Pamela and her family have opened their home to my family ever since we moved from Clovis.  On a moment’s notice, she has let me spend the night in order to raid my storage unit.  These trips have been a wonderful blessing in and of themselves.  On our last family trip to visit, Pamela offered me her home for the Thanksgiving holiday.  She was taking her family to Germany and the house would be empty, so she could see no reason for us to stay in our trailer on a holiday when her home was available. 

This of course sounded great to us, but we had no concept of how kind hearted a gift they were offering us.  As we spent time alone in Pamela’s home, my family became more and more aware of how we had been given something special and unique.  I cooked in her kitchen, we bathed, ironed, cleaned etc. When something was needed, be it a pen or pet cleaner, the hostess was not there to help me find it.  She opened her home to me in a way that I would not normally access it.  I was overwhelmed with the trust and generosity my family had been given.

As the days passed I began to realize this was not going to be a fair trade.  No thank you note, gift or any good deed I could think of would repay this act of kindness.  I had done nothing to earn or deserve such a blessing.  We’ve been good friends, but this was something so much more.  My heart became almost heavy with the amount of gratitude I felt and I knew I was going to have to accept this gift, simply accept it. 

It then dawned on me that this is Grace.   I hear the word and now I have a clear picture with the emotions to match.  Before me is a real life example illustrating how Grace feels. Jesus came to this earth and sacrificed his life so I may have a relationship with His Father.  There is no way to earn His affection, I cannot repay His sacrifice and I will never deserve what He did for me on Calvary. Grace is accompanied by a very deep, heavy and wonderful feeling. Grace is a gift and all I can do is allow my heart to feel the weight of gratitude.  I know I am going to accept this gift, simply accept it.

Thank you Pamela.

  Posts from the Trailer Park ~ Catherine