grace

We were just about ready to head out of the condo and down to our rental truck, just in time to catch our flight home, when my son reappeared at the condo door with all of our luggage still on the luggage cart.

Interesting, since he had gone down 10 minutes earlier to unload the luggage into the truck.

So I inquired why he was back, and he and my friend explained how he had accidentally dropped the car keys down the elevator shaft.

They were our only set of keys.

And I had to choose if I wanted to pass or fail the test.

...

My husband called at 5:55, telling me that he was stuck in a meeting late, and now instead of being home at 6:15, it would hopefully be no later than 7:30.  It had been a long day with the kids, and there was still homework to be done, piano to be practiced, showers to be taken, and a bedtime routine to make it through.

And I had to choose if I wanted to pass or fail the test.

...

The juror that I had been sitting by in the Jury Room for 3 days was telling anyone that would listen how wonderful he was.  Anything that I said, he had to one-up me.  And he would not stop talking.

And I had to choose if I wanted to pass or fail the test.

...

The pizza man was at least 30 minutes late.  We had some friends over, and the longer it took him to deliver the pizza, the more impatient I became.  He finally showed up, without any sort of explanation, and luke-warm pizza.

And I had to choose if I wanted to pass or fail the test.

Each day when I get in the shower(sorry for the visual), I read this on my body wash bottle:

life is a classroom.  we are both student and teacher.  each day is a test.  and each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject:  grace.  grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners and reverence.  being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest or ever the poorest can't help.  being a humble person can, and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude.

And so daily I am reminded of the test that I have the chance to pass or fail.

I don't know about you, but in high school when the teacher was passing back tests, it felt way better to get an "A", even an "A-", than it did to get a "F".

And I wish that I could say that in all of the stories above I did pass the test.

But I didn't.

I fail often at extending grace to my kids, expecting them to act and behave near perfectly all the time...you never know who is watching.

And boy am I stingy with my grace when it comes to my husband.  If he walks in the door from work any minute past 6:15pm, he will be able to tell by my body language that I am not pleased...too bad physical touch is his love language.

The pizza delivery man, my fellow juror, my old neighbor with the barking dog, my good friend who forgets my birthday, and anybody else who may not meet my expectations may not receive the grace that I am called to give.

Grace, according to my bible, means God's free and unmerited favor for sinful humanity.

We hear the word often.

At our wedding, my cousins sang a Phillips, Craig & Dean song, talking about God's grace falling on us from His hands.

Maybe the term I am actually looking for is gracious, meaning of a merciful or compassionate nature; kind.

Yep, that's what I'm talking about.

That's what I long to be...full of mercy, compassion, and kindness.

And daily I long to pass the test.


Please note that I'm really not that bad of a person to live with...I don't think.