A Little Grace
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Photography by Madi Flournoy Henderson || Top: Madewell
I have two big weaknesses in life: Madewell and pizza. If you haven’t picked up on it by now, Madewell is one of my favorite places to shop. It’s the perfect place to find relaxed styles with added flare. So, of course, when I found this striped tee from Madewell, I couldn’t resist. Add it to a pair of distressed jeans, and I am all set for a night out to indulge in my other weakness. Yes, when it comes to pizza, I offer myself a lot of grace. In other words, I don’t hold back. In my world, calories don’t exist when it comes to pizza. Amen.
The word grace isn’t one we are stranger to. And while we are often told about the grace Jesus offers to us, we seldom think about the grace we must offer to other people.
I’ve been reading Savor, a daily devotional by Shauna Niequist, and it just so happens that grace has been the topic of discussion for the last couple of days. She summed up the idea of grace perfectly when she wrote, “Grace is when you finally stop keeping score and when you realize that God never was, that his game is a different one entirely.”
When someone is having “a moment” and that moment affects you, it is hard to offer up some grace. Trust me. There have been times in my life where I have been so angry with people that it brings me to tears. It feels almost unfair to give them grace. Especially when they haven’t said those two little words that we feel like we all deserve to hear. Yes, “I’m sorry” goes a long way. But life isn’t always going to apologize. There will be times where you have to choose to give grace.
When we are having a moment, we hope that the people we encounter will offer us grace. In turn, we have to get better at offering those around us the same kind of grace. Grace in understanding that their choices may be different from ours. Grace in knowing that there could be more to their “moment” than we really understand. “Grace allows us to grow, to become more of who God created us to be.” And that grace is the same grace that we should share with others.
Today, I pray that you will offer up some grace to the people in your life who need it the most. I hope you will pray for them – even though will be hard. Then, I hope you will extend yourself a little grace in the process. In His eyes, “Grace isn’t about having a second chance; grace is having so many chances that you could use them through all eternity and never come up empty.” – Shauna Niequist
