Skip to main content

A Lesson in Grace

This past weekend I was given the blessing of having my elderly grandmother in my home from Friday to Monday morning. As I watched her hobble around the kitchen, sew on buttons to clothes, or wash dishes I thought how painful it must be to be old. Old people can't do things that young people can. Imagine going all your life without needed help from anybody and then you can no longer tie your shoes, comb your hair, or climb stairs.
   The truth is I often think my life is hard. It's hard to be single. It's hard to get along with others. It's hard to keep smiling some days. But as I watched my grandmother I thought, "It's even harder when the one you once loved is gone, when those you used to get along with are in nursing homes and you never see them, or when you can't hear what people are saying so you don't know what everyone is smiling about."
   I often think young people are in need of a special dose of grace but as I watched my grandma I realized that the trials I have are small compared to the trials she struggles with. And yet, as she struggles to let people help her because she can't do things herself, she quietly trusts God and waits on Him. Her example is a blessing to me. I hope and pray that someday I can be was gentle, wise, and patient as she is.
   So next time you think that you aren't having a good day, that nothing is going right, think about an elderly person and how hard their life is. Realize that you are blessed and that every thing you struggle with now is small in comparison to what you may someday need to endure. Be encouraged. God's grace is sufficient for you. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What Is Your Purpose?

 A couple weeks ago, a young woman asked me, "what is your purpose?" it kind of threw me off. Ok, it really threw me off. It seemed a bit touché to say "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever" when she was looking for specifics. And I get why she's asking. My life does seem pretty random. Thirty-two years old, working on my BA, teaching music part time, working at a coffee shop part time, and living at least an hour from my closest family member. On paper it looks...well...it looks random. I get it. Kind of hard to pull a purpose out of the randomness.  I was talking to the Lord about it because sometimes, even for myself, the person living this life, it's hard to find a specific purpose in the randomness. Sometimes I wonder,  when I get to Heaven if I'm  going to have anything to offer God, if while other people show up with their kids, I'm going to hold out empty hands and say "it's just me." I mean, if He wants soldiers to defeat spiri...

Body Image (1)

Contentedly situated in lawn chairs with our toes in the sand and the baby playing on a blanket at our feet, my friend and I watch her girls digging holes or running between the beach and the lake. Periodically, the girls run up to us to display the shells and rocks they've found. At one point, as the girls surround us, one of us adults comments on the baby being chubby (which she is, as a baby should be) after which one of the girls looks at me and says, "you're kind of chubby." She wasn't trying to be rude or smart, she was just being bluntly observant as children are. As I looked at I her and considered an answer, I thought of the baggage of body image that women have carried for generations, and I thought, I don't want her to carry this baggage too. I want better for her.   I replied, "you know, being a little chubby is actually a good thing. Our bodies function better and it helps keep us warm." This deep lesson was probably lost on her as she s...

Personal Pragmatism

 Pragmatism is the philosophy that believes things have value based on their effectiveness; the idea that if something works it is right. Usefulness is most important. And this philosophy is thriving in our culture today, partly because it is so sneaky. Of course we want to use systems that are effective and produce good results, but the danger lies in only valuing something or someone for what they can do. For example, certain people are not very useful, therefore it is okay to remove them from society; or taking care of one's home does not bring in money, therefore it is not as valuable as work that does produce money.  John Snyder says that "in religion, pragmatism values God; but it values Him because He is the most useful of all beings. He can empower us to accomplish our goals--world evangelism, healthy families, personal fulfillment, moral excellence--whatever they are. A useful God is the pragmatist's great desire. Though hard to spot at times, the shift from worsh...