GRACE : Must Haves for Living in the Unknown

So it’s been awhile. I know. I am sorry. What can I say. Amidst our move and all the change in our lives the blank page has been daunting and the time to fill it, scarce. We have yet to fully settle in and set up those rhythms that help us thrive. 

For those of you who have been following Dave and I’s great adventure (kind of sounded like “Bill and Ted’s” but don’t go there), you know we have moved from the metropolis of Northern Chicago-land to the mountains of Colorado. 

Evergreen Lake - 1 mile from our home

In the last five months, we have educated four kiddos at home, had a significant job change, sold a home, moved across the country, settled into three new schools, fallen in love with a new church body and are reestablishing that church - all while navigating COVID -19. 

To say we have lived in the unknown this year is an understatement and we all continue to live in that reality as 2020 finishes out.

So even though I can now sleep at night knowing what our address is, where God was calling us, how many bedrooms our house would have and how my kids would navigate change; there are so many things that are still unknown.

Many of us are glued to the news with the only option to react to the changing COVID climate, the new sanctions from government, and uncertainty of our businesses and livlihood. Certainly not an appealing place to live. 

But a place we are in nonetheless. So how are we to live? How do we survive, might I even suggest, thrive?

Well, there have been 4 things as we have navigated our unknown that I have found to be “must haves” in addition to great coffee J. I will dive into the first today and the others in the following weeks of November. 

The first is GRACE.

Grace for your-self. Grace for your spouse. Grace for your kids. Grace for the people you encounter in the supermarket. (Man, it can be a downer to shop now, right?)

Grace. 

Grace sounds easier than it is. It means forgoing an expectation, one we’ve often placed on ourselves. Permitting your-self to not get it right. Setting something down when you usually pick something up. Downshifting when you normally are gearing up. 

Grace means giving your-self freedom to heed the heart of God instead of heeding all the needs and expectations of others (including your own).

It creates room to not have all the answers. To not have it all together. 

Grace breathes rest into our souls, forgiveness into our steps, and beauty into our sights.

And when we receive and give grace to ourselves, we can’t help but extend it to others. 

What might grace look like for you and your kids? 

Well, during the first week of remote learning, it looked like letting my Kindergartener sit on Zoom with Ken and Barbie making out during a lesson on the letter “S.” And not allowing myself to think less of my parenting or push her over the attention span ledge.

Ella on our first snow day in Oct.

What a gift from God we can give ourselves and others. Grace. Receiving his mercy and extending it to others. 

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Lamentation 3:23

Before we go onto the next “must have” let’s receive grace and give it. Let’s experience God’s love. Trust his faithfulness. Step into a fresh start again and again. 

Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 

Matthew 11:28,30

• What would it feel like to receive grace from God?

• How can you give grace to yourself today?

• What is one thing you can do to give grace to your spouse?

• What would it look like to give grace to your kids, grandkids, or loud neighbors? Try it. 

The view of the Continental Divide pulling out of Walmart. Not too shabby, ehh?

You could save an image to your phone as a reminder to receive and extend God’s grace to yourself and your people. I think will do the same. :)Erin