Ladies of Grace - September 16

So today is the day we share those moments in the week when we have noticed our hearts warmed and softened by acts of grace, or cold and hardened by a lack of grace. We share our stories through an experiment called Ladies of Grace, a blog carnival hosted by Walk A Mile, where we try to notice all the ways God's grace surrounds us in our daily lives - both in how we experience it, and how we offer it to others.

...And part of this experiment is being honest when we notice ourselves not being very graceful, when we notice our hearts hardening against a person, a situation, or an experience... So today, my friends, the honest truth must be told. I am a cold, hardened, ungraceful person today.

As I was leaving my house this morning, I found a note from our neighbor on my garage door complaining about our dog - and signed, "your friendly neighbors." At first I laughed - because they are anything but friendly. And then, I just got mad. Mad mad mad. They are loud, obnoxious, lazy, slobs - we have put up with their bad behavior and lack of respect for property for four years... and not complained. We tried to be graceful and accept that they don't share our ways of living. They have different standards and ways of doing things. We've tried not to start ill feelings between us. We've tried to "let it go."

But this morning, I wanted to write an endless letter to the association complaining about every thing this family has ever done to annoy and disturb our peaceful little life - and... yes. I would like them evicted. (Don't worry... nothing will happen.)

AHHHH! Cold cold hardened heart. This is not me. I have done no such thing. I will do no such thing. I will calmly attend to my dog a little more... and maybe start leaving them friendly (hopefully not sarcastic) little notes when I could be reporting them...

And so it goes. Sometimes, even I can be a victim of giving into such ugly ways. Which is why we pray, right?

I hope you're having a better day! God's grace does abound (sometimes we just have to look a little harder...)

Things I am thankful for today:

1. Sleeping in just a bit this morning.
2. Lessons in humility.
3. Fun finds at the church rummage sale - early. One of the few perks to working in the church building.
4. Teaching my pastor how to use Facebook - very funny.
5. Meeting with Jason today - he always makes me smile.
6. More cherry tomatoes! Yum!
7. A good cry. No worries - I just needed it.
8. A beautiful drive home.
9. Cinnamon ice cream - makes everything better.
10. A note from Cheryl. Makes me smile.