grace

It is not required that we know all of the details about every stretch of the river. Indeed, were we to know, it would not be an adventure, and I wonder if there would be much point in the journey.

Grace is a power that comes in and transforms a moment into something better

If I__ not showing grace . . . have I forgotten the grace I__e been shown?

It is better to dwell on the beautiful things in life than the negative.

It takes a lot of grace and maturity to simply forgive, but a lot of healing takes place when you do.

Come, come into this circle of grace and friendship.Come bringing only your open heart.You owe us nothing but truth, you need no heavy armor here.Show us your beautiful scars, the evidence of adventures you__e survived.Tell your stories from the road.This space is home.You are safe to come as you are without fear.

They will hate you if you are beautiful. They will hate you if you are successful. They will hate you if you are right. They will hate you if you are popular. They will hate you when you get attention. They will hate you when people in their life like you. They will hate you if you worship a different version of their God. They will hate you if you are spiritual. They will hate you if you have courage. They will hate you if you have an opinion. They will hate you when people support you. They will hate you when they see you happy. Heck, they will hate you while they post prayers and religious quotes on Pinterest and Facebook. They just hate. However, remember this: They hate you because you represent something they feel they don__ have. It really isn__ about you. It is about the hatred they have for themselves. So smile today because there is something you are doing right that has a lot of people thinking about you.

We ought to seek daily grace.

Your gift is your grace.

I want to share my story, and I want to know yours. I believe with all my heart that sharing our stories, the real, ugly, broken ones, is one of the most powerful things in the world, because to share our story we must first accept it. We must own it. We must stop running from it or shoving it into the corner when company comes over. To share our story is to admit that we've been changed.

On a trip to Russia I bought one of those Matryoshka __ested dolls_ that break apart at the waist to reveal smaller and smaller dolls inside_it occurred to me to me later that each of us, like the nested dolls, contains multiple selves, making us a mysterious combination of good and evil, wisdom and folly, reason and instinct_ (pp.80)

Sometimes, Lev, I just want to smack you.""You already hit him with a car.

Hope is the grace of a happy heart.

I feel thankful for the grace of life.

We need days of failure because they help humble us, and through them we can see how God's grace is poured out on the humble.

But if I've learned anything about the world of grace, it's that failure is always a chance for a do-over.

Although claiming my true identity as a child of God, I still live as though the God to whom I am returning demands an explanation. I still think about his love as conditional and about home as a place I am not yet fully sure of. While walking home, I keep entertaining doubts about whether I will be truly welcome when I get there. As I look at my spiritual journey, my long and fatiguing trip home, I see how full it is of guilt about the past and worries about the future. I realize my failures and know that I have lost the dignity of my sonship, but I am not yet able to fully believe that where my failings are great, 'grace is always greater.' Still clinging to my sense of worthlessness, I project for myself a place far below that which belongs to the son, (p. 52).

We only need grace to get up, whenever we fall.