Feature Friday: A Bold Grace

One night recently, the family was sitting around the table. We were having some Bible study time. Now that the girls are a bit older and we feel they can really hash out some principles, we’re trying to be faithful in that area. Honestly, it’s a practice we should have started long ago but we just didn’t. Better late than…

Well, as we finished the story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana, 7-year-old Maddie suddenly asked a peculiar question.

“So, Jesus came before or after the dinosaurs?”

Will and I exchanged a glance and a grin. He said, “Actually, many, many years after the dinosaurs.”

Maddie: “Okay, um, what about the pilgrims?”

“Maddie, they came many, many years after Jesus.”

“Okay, well, that’s really hard to think about.”

I know how she feels. I can spin my wheels keeping up with the details of my faith and life in general. I think that’s why when it was finally pointedly asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment?” or “What do we really need to know; what do you want us to do?” Jesus said this {paraphrase mine}: “Don’t get bogged down in the details. Just love.”

Since I’m more convinced than ever that this is the most important thing we can ever set our heart to do, I’m setting aside the time these days to dig in and allow myself to be challenged about what a life of loving really looks like. How can I serve more, give more? How can I just be available? If God comes knocking in the shape of the homeless or the sick or a friend having a bad day, can I answer?

Am I noticing the world and the millions of others in it, or do I live as though it all revolves around me?

Most days, I am so overwhelmed with my to-do list and the bills that are due and the errands that need to be run, I quickly justify that I simply don’t have time for much else. Of course, I would like to make a difference, but there are only so many hours in a day. Good intentions. Nonexistent follow through.

C.S. Lewis is right: I “go down to that Sea (I think St. John of the Cross called God a sea) and there neither dive nor swim nor float, but only dabble and splash, careful not to get out of my depth and holding on to the lifeline which connects me with my things temporal.”

But, can I tell you something that is hard to admit? I am growing to hate that because my everyday choices are so driven by my own interests and agendas, I readily sacrifice people and relationship. I confuse wants with needs and fail to meet actual needs all around me because I’m hoping to fund a vacation, expand my wardrobe and upgrade my photography equipment.

My priorities are beyond out of whack. They are corrupt. My life is so full of ME there’s hardly room for anyone else at all. Maybe my hubby, kids and close friends get a little. I’m saddened by how many times even that hasn’t been true.

Time for a fresh start, for grace bold enough to believe His mercy is bigger than my faults and shortcomings. Time to take seriously the call, His call…Follow me.

Several months ago, I began blogging on behalf of Compassion International. Will and I have sponsored a child since the beginning of our marriage, nearly 13 years now, and I encourage you to visit their site, read the stories and consider how little it takes to have an incredible impact on a child for life.

But, that’s just one step. There are so many possibilities. The world is so big, and our place in it matters. We are called for a purpose. Let’s find it!

Please visit me over at A Bold Grace, so we can journey together.

My name is Kathryn. I am a recovering perfectionist with a fondness for coffee at breakfast and cheap red wine at dinner. I can’t breathe without grace and am discovering little by little what it means to let go, to take hold of what really matters. I am wife to Will, mother to Banana and Moose and believe Jesus saved my soul. I bare my heart and hard lessons learned at aboldgrace.com. Stop by anytime and say hello!