MY ONE WORD: Grace
“The cross is the lightning rod of grace that short-circuits God’s wrath to Christ so that only the light of His love remains for believers.” ~ A. W. Tozer

With two teenage girls in the house I have found myself at a loss for kind words some days because their attitude or choice of words are wearing me thin. There are days I have to mentally remind myself that I cannot take it personally when they use unkind words with each other or myself. If laundry that has been left unfinished is my biggest complaint, then I’m going to consider myself blessed. They could be doing any number of things that are rebellious and self-destructive. But they aren’t. They are teenagers. I know this is true of their age BUT it is draining some days. Then there is a day when they are both kind to each other and to me and their daddy. Those are the days I cherish. One evening I was unloading laundry that one of our girls forgot to put in the dryer and I began to get frustrated that I was having to do something I asked them to do. I mean they are 16 & 13 can’t they get the laundry done without error? The Lord was very quick to remind me that there are many tasks He gives me that I fail to complete with perfection. Some tasks I never even begin. OUCH. But He loves me anyway. He corrects. He disciplines. He also extends grace. He allows room for error in the midst of growth. I am an imperfect parent, raising imperfect children, in an imperfect world. I think that says it all right there. We are in desperate need of a perfect God to bring grace into our daily lives. If I am given this measure of grace in my parenting skills and my marriage and relationship with the Lord then why is it so difficult for me to extend the same grace to our girls? Why is it difficult to extend grace to my husband? It was then that I decided my one word for 2013 is going to be GRACE. Its a weakness that I anticipate seeing growth in as I focus on the grace I have been given. Progress not perfection.

Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.

1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.