Let There Be Grace

A few years ago I got off the bandwagon of guilt that is resolutions.  Since then I’ve just been the curmudgeon at the gym who can’t wait for everyone to go back to being their old selves and stop taking all the bikes in RPM class.

This morning I woke up (after a night with no NYE fanfare) to my cup of coffee, my phone and a few minutes of peace before I headed out on my run.  As I plopped down on my couch and began to mindlessly scroll through my phone for entertainment I was impressed with the desire to put my phone down and spend a few minutes in prayer.  I am, admittedly, terrible at praying.  I hate that, despite the fact that I’ve been a believer for 35 years, it still isn’t innate for me to spend time with the Lord like that.  So, when the desire hits I am grateful.  

It wasn’t an eloquent prayer.  It was short, filled with distraction and a roaming mind.  But a word was central in it, and I felt the pull to claim it as my word for 2019.  

Grace.

I want my first thought to be grace.  When there is an opportunity to look for hurt or find grace, I want to choose grace.  When a careless comment happens out of someone’s mouth I want to choose grace instead of a snappy comeback.  When I see an event that I was left out of, I want to choose grace.  Rather than to make up a scenario where I was excluded out of spite to instead assume there is a much less sinister (and sensical) reason.  When there is an opportunity to be annoyed or perceive bragging or selfishness in others, let me choose grace.  Because the Lord knows, I need ALL the grace I can possibly get from those in my life. 

I know that I get so laser focused on getting through the day that I often neglect to reach out to those around me or to pick up the phone and make a call to a loved one that I know would appreciate it.  And those loved ones so often give me grace in that shortcoming.   I love my time with my family and husband so much that it can be hard to make the time to invest in the friends around me who may also may need some love.  I also let myself be too distracted by social media and other distractions that take too much time that I could be directing to people in my life.  And yet those people, my tribe give me grace. 

My prayer for 2019 is that I would follow the example of my tribe and spread the grace far and wide.