Precious Grace

Today I had to grovel. Is that how you spell it? I'm not sure, but I did it. I figuratively got down on my hands and knees and begged for a huge favor. And trust me, only a desperate and extremely loving mom would do such a thing when her son is the one who should have been groveling.

Daniel missed the deadline for registering for his all important AP Music Theory test. I was livid. He certainly had plenty of notice, according to the counselor who was the object of my groveling. I do not in any way hold this woman responsible for Daniel's irresponsible behavior (and I told her so at least a dozen times!). But I'm a mom who wants good for her son and so I begged for her to show a little grace. After two phone calls, getting choked up several times, and finally expressing that "my son is very bright, at the top of his Music Theory class, and he is not only trying to get in to college; he is trying to get scholarships...because I can't afford to pay for it myself..." the wonderful woman on the other end of the line showed a little mercy.

She took my number and promised to call me back within 30 minutes. I have no idea what she did during those 30 minutes, but I attribute that precious time to her putting a little grace on the table. She owed us nothing, but she got off the phone and went to bat for me and my son. She called me back in less than the 30 minutes and offered to let Daniel sign up for the test if he got his money in first thing in the morning. I thanked and praised and adored her over and over. She gave me a lecture about how parents have to let their children go and no one is going to extend deadlines for him in the real world... and I just listened with humility. That's hard for me, but that's how grace is accepted - humbly.

This all serves as a huge reminder to me of the grace we are shown over and over by our precious Savior. We don't even have to gravel; we just have to come to Him with a recognition of our need for a little grace and accept it humbly. Amazing. In fact, just recently I made the off the cuff remark that certain Christian songs like Amazing Grace are over done. In fact, if you'll notice, it's true that most TV shows portray churches and Christian groups singing Amazing Grace because I suppose it's the only hymn the producers know. That still irks me a little, but I take back what I said. You can never "over do" Amazing Grace. After all, grace is always amazing - whether it comes from a school counselor showing an irresponsible student a little mercy or whether it shows up in the beautiful words, "You're forgiven." Grace should amaze the recipient every time.

I don't know if Daniel's counselor is a Christian, but somehow God used her to hand me the gift of grace today. Not only that, her gift has inspired me to show a little grace to others as well. After all, we're all quite irresponsible when you get right down to it. And only a little grace can fix some of our irresponsible mistakes. Thank God for grace.