Grace

    Grace is when you finally stop keeping score and when you realize that God never was, that his game is a different one entirely. Grace is when the silence is so complete that you can hear your own heartbeat, and right within your ribs, God's beating heart, too. 

    I used to think the ability to turn back time would be the greatest possible gift, so that I could undo all the things I wish I hadn't done. But grace is an even better gift, because it allows me to do more than just erase; it allows me to become more than I was when I did those things. It's forgiveness without forgetting, which is much sweeter than amnesia.

-Shauna Niequist "Bittersweet"

     For most of my life I've treated Grace as something God gives me daily, but never something I give to others. At least not on the same level as what God does. For so long Grace and Forgiveness never connected. I thought I forgave people, but after I protected myself. If they hurt me I avoided them and built a wall of protection. After all, "Forgive and Forget" isn't biblical.

As I read and grow, I find that my view is small and incomplete. Grace and Forgiveness do go hand in hand. We shower forgiveness and grace on those who've wronged us. Over and over again. Forever

Even when it hurts. 

Especially when it hurts. 

In these moments we truly reflect Christ.