Out With the Old, In With the New

If only the events of this year could be packaged and tossed out so easily.

Some of you know details of how sin manifested itself in our family this year. For those who don't, there's no need to speculate, just know that if God prompted you to pray for us it was because we dearly needed it. I'd never come face to face with such betrayal, selfishness and sheer degeneracy before. I truly thought the human race, as a whole, was simply misguided, hassled, bewildered, lost; not bent on hell. I lost my innocence this year. I grew up. I looked evil in the eye.

But I experienced grace, too, because of this year.

Where sin abounds, grace is abundantly available. It manifests itself in a husband holding his wife when her heart is breaking, the wife remaining confident in her husband's godly intentions and good judgment when he's second-guessing himself. Grace works conviction into the heart; it releases forgiveness, seventy times seven. Grace allows one to listen to God and receive His Word. Grace drives one to pray and fast, and that act stretches the soul and makes it resilient for news that would otherwise shatter it like a hammer on fine china. Grace holds faith together with only two words: Jesus wins.

Grace does not abound where self-sufficiency and competency operate. Would I have preferred self-sufficiency and my own competence this year? Of course! I naturally prefer challenges that I can accomplish through mere busy-work; I avoid pain, self-discipline and cost.

But God blessed me with the many mysteries and simplicities of grace this year. May I toss out the calendar and welcome in more calls of grace.

I pray the same for you.

Thanks for checking in on me.

WRITING UPDATE: Tomorrow's the writing day--finally. The schedule's been topsy turvy this month. At this point I hardly remember what I was doing so pray that I'll be able to pick up at the right spot!