Ladies of Grace - October 14th

My friend at Walk A Mile has decided to discontinue her blog carnival "Ladies of Grace." It wasn't catching on, people weren't posting their experiences, so she decided it was time to set the experiment aside.

But I don't think I'm ready to let it go. I really enjoy taking a moment each week to find a time when I either experienced grace from someone else, or noticed my own reaction to a situation or person (whether it be a warm fuzzy feeling, or a cold prickly). I think it's a good practice for all of us to get into!

It's nice to notice when someone was graceful to us. It's even nicer when we catch ourselves being graceful to others! And, it really takes some honesty and guts to notice when we are cold and hard-hearted towards someone else... It's REALLY a learning experience when you notice that while IN the situation and can take a moment to intentionally decide how to react - with or without grace.

So here's my moment for this week - Are you ever around those people that don't seem interested in a two-way conversation? As soon as they open their mouth, you realize this is going to be all about them? I had one of those conversations this week - and yes, I felt my heart harden when I realized this was going to be the case.

But the longer I listened, I realized how much this person needed to be heard. This person had more pain, frustration, and sadness in their life than I ever would have imagined - and the longer I listened, the more my heart softened and and warmed. I listened, I encouraged, I offered hopeful words... and I've continued to pray for this person all week.

It's easy to be in a hurry, want to just have a fun and uplifting kind of day, get frustrated with people who don't want to know what's going on in my life... But this was a reminder that we never know what's going on in someone's life until we take a moment to listen - and sometimes the best thing we can do to offer grace, is to stop and just be with the person.

What is your grace story from the last week?

Things I am thankful for today:

1. This Jason Mraz clip - singing "In My Life" by the Beatles as his last song on the Gratitude Cafe Tour!

2. Finally getting a couple hours of good sleep this morning! I don't know what my deal was last night...

3. Joining the UMW ladies' lunch this afternoon - it's the group of elderly ladies, and they are so fun! It was nice of them to invite me...

4. Laughing over silly things with Diane.

5. Beth J. snorted! Ha ha ha!

6. I got most of Sunday's servoice organized - I think it's going to be really special!

7. Portabella ravioli for dinner. Yum.

8. The ability to say no.

9. Down comforters.

10. The singer Cory Chisel. Good stuff!