A Lifetime Filled With Grace

Tomorrow, we will have another baby added to our extended family.  Darin’s brother, Zach, and his wife, Jessica, will be having their second son.  With a new baby comes the incredibly difficult task of choosing a name.  And oh, how many opinions parents must listen to!  I remember choosing names for our children.  We would pick a name that we thought was just perfect, only to hear from countless people why we should NOT pick that name.  It was so frustrating!  We finally came to the decision, as most parents do, that you can’t please everyone. 

Of our three children, one name is sticking out to me today.  It isn’t the first name….it’s a middle name.  You see, both of our girls have beautiful names…Caylie Grace and Chloe Beth.  But I must admit something.  Unlike our son, who is named after his grandfathers, they aren’t named after anyone.  There really isn’t any significance to their first names at all.  But Caylie’s middle name is a word that has great meaning to us. Grace.  Just saying the word is like breathing in fresh air.  We've all heard it.  We've all said it.  We've all wanted it.  We've all even given it.  But, as I sit and ponder over the meaning of Caylie's middle name, I wonder how often I have grace on my children.  On my husband.  On my friends.  On my church family.  On the driver that pulled out in front of me.  On the cashier that just takes a little too long.  On the person that I said, "I forgive you" to, but yet I still hold a grudge. 

You see, I think the word "grace" has almost become such a common word, that we use it without really grasping the meaning of it.  If you look it up in the dictionary, there are several meanings.  Of course, some have to do with beauty and elegance.  Others have to do with mercy.  My favorites are:
           1.  a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior
           2.  mercy, clemency, pardon
           3.  the freely given, unmerited favor of God

God pours out His grace on us (Eph 1:7-8).  And that's an awesome thing.  I pray that we never stop marveling at that.  But let's not stop there.  That grace--that wonderful blessing--needs to be carried further.  It can't just be received by us and then stay there.  We have to turn around and bless others with it.  We have been "pardoned" of so much. 

We are so full of excuses.  "I just can't forgive them!"  "They don't deserve forgiveness."  "They didn't ask for forgiveness."  Yep.  I've used them all.  But unfortunately, none of them hold any water.  Remember what Webster's said about "grace"?  It is unmerited....it is freely given.

When that friend talked about me?  I was commanded to forgive her and show her grace.  When that stranger gave me a mean look in the grocery store because the baby was screaming?  I was commanded to forgive him and show him grace.  When that person mistreated my husband or my kids?  I was commanded to forgive them and show them grace.  When one of the kids spilled milk at the table?  I was commanded to forgive them and show them grace.

And sometimes I'm not all that excited about that!  Sometimes I want to hold a grudge a little bit longer, because it makes me feel justified.  Maybe I haven't had time to tell enough people about the wrong that was done against me. Or maybe I'm just not ready to forgive.  Really, that's not hurting anyone more than it's hurting me. 

But God, in all His glory, doesn't wait for any of that "stuff".  He freely bestows grace on us.  And that is our example.  Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has forgiven you."  Instead of holding grudges, we should be running down the streets yelling, "I've been forgiven!  I forgive YOU!" 

So to us Grace isn't just a pretty name that flows well.  It isn't just a name that people didn't complain about.  It is a name that brings hope -- the hope of a lifetime filled with grace.