Ladies of Grace - October 7th

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) - and noticed my reaction to that situation. 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... And 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.

My moment of grace this week was in the reading for my book group. We're reading, "The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus" by Peter Gomes. This quote stood out to me this week:

"Whoever has love in his or her heart will know who the neighbor is," and then, "One cannot define one's neighbor; one can only be a neighbor." --Arland J. Hultgren

This was part of a commentary on "The Good Samaritan" story... It's so easy to put other people in boxes of who's like me, who seems safe, who is likeable, etc. But I like this twist - all that doesn't matter. It's who I am, and the choices I make, that makes me a neighbor...

A good reminder to us all...

Things I am thankful for today:

1. A beautiful day! Sunny and in the 60s!

2. Good staff meeting.

3. Leaving work early to enjoy the day!

4. Windows open in the house!

5. Starting to clean the house.

6. Grocery shopping with the hubby.

7. Steaks on the grill! Mmm...

8. A lovely night chatting with the hubby.

9. The hubby is staying home this weekend!!!

10. My spice market candle - makes the whole house smell like fall!