i think of my teenage years and how self-righteous i was toward so many people, especially my parents. without their grace in my life, i don't think i would have turned out to be the woman i am now. i think of my college years and how much i've messed up in friendships, yet so many of them are still my friends today... so thankful that they extended grace to me. i think of my years in indo and how i had no clue as to what to say or what the norms were, but the people there were so gracious in spite of all the most cultural awful mistakes i could have made. i think of the first couple years after P died... i was a wreck and so many... family, friends, church family, strangers... extended so much grace as i grieved and made some careless decisions and so much more. so much grace is needed in our lives from fellow life livers.
i have been trying to love better these days, which i know i've mentioned. i'm realizing that extending grace is an act of love, standing in the other person's shoe for a second and trying to see where they have been and where they are... gives you perspective and insight into the person which gives you the ability to extend grace.
as i receive grace from others and try to extend grace as much as i can toward others, i feel at peace, a kind of satisfaction that i have done what God has called me to do. the rest Lord is up to You.
just wanted to write that... let us be a people who extends grace to those around us just as our Father has done for us.
