Grace

Last week, I loaded up the car and headed across town to my eldest son, Blake's baseball practice. I look forward to these practices because I get to see some of my favorite moms, my two younger boys get to see some friends, and we all get to be outside.

It took about thirty minutes to complete the drive, so I made a phone call, one that I had been putting off making for I knew it would be a tough one. The call went ok, but when I arrived at the field, it was empty. I texted my husband, and he informed me that they were playing at the other field—the one back my way, the one pretty close to my house. 

I was annoyed; between the call and the miscommunication, I could feel my muscles tighten, and my hands clench the steering wheel. I didn't know exactly where I was going, so I pulled over to enter the new address into my GPS. My middle son, Trip, then quietly said, "Mom, can we go now."

I turned around and not so quietly said, "Can you give me like one second....geez?" To which I heard the Holy Spirit immediately say, "Amy?" Ugh... I sat there for a second, a second that seemed like an eternity, asked for forgiveness, and then turned around to Trip and said, "Trip, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." To which my youngest son, Knox (he's five), replied, "Mom, that's ok, I still love you, you're the best mommy."

And just like that, the Holy Spirit flooded out of my mouth, "That's Grace." 

To which I said, "Knox, do you know what you just did? You just gave me grace, do you know what that is? You gave me something I didn't deserve, but you did it anyway, and I'm so grateful for you guys, Thank you."

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for saving that moment.

Do you know what I sometimes do? I focus on the war, the worry, the decay, the anger, the selfishness, the hate, the judgment.

But God says, focus on the peace, the trust, the restoration, the gratitude, the sacrifice, the love, and the grace that you see around you every day. 

If you have the vision to see, you will see the beautiful glimpses of God working in the middle of all this mess. Right here, right now, through love and grace. Breathe it in. Sit in it for just a second. 

That's what happened approximately two thousand and twenty years ago. Grace came to Earth in the form of a man and forgave us all, and now He can work through all of us, especially a five-year-old.