Grace, Grace & More Grace

God has been speaking to me about grace over the last few days.  Some definitions of Grace are

• an attractively polite manner of behaving
• courteous goodwill
• the free and unmerited favor of God

I have been seeing the number "5" a lot lately, and especially the time of "5:55" on the clock everywhere, sometimes 2x a day.  Because of this, I've been claiming and declaring an increase of God's grace over my life.  And although I believe God IS allowing me to receive that increase, He has also revealed to me that although I have received His grace, I do not always walk in it, nor do I extend it to others.  Ouch!  As I prayed for deeper revelation about this, I came to realize that there are many times when I neither walk in His grace, nor do I extend it to others. Some examples,

There have been mornings where I've overslept.  I've rushed my kids out of bed, asked them to eat their breakfast quickly, asked them to hurry and get dressed, brush their teeth, etc., and hurried them out to door and off to school.  My behavior was less than attractive, and because they were rushed, my childrens' attitudes were less than polite.

There have been times when I've been at the grocery store and the checker was either new or just having a bad day.  I remember standing in line thinking to myself "can she possibly go any slower? I mean really, do I look like I have all day?".  My attitude towards her did not reflect mercy, neither did I care to be courteous or extend goodwill to this person.

There have been far too many times where I have gotten frustrated with myself and have verbally talked down to myself about something I said, or did, or didn't do.  I can be so mean to myself sometimes and never even think that I deserve a break. In those moments, I was not acting like a person who had received the unmerited favor of God over her life.  I was far from accepting of the grace that God had freely given to me.

I do not just want to receive God's grace.  I want to walk in it and extend it to everyone that crosses my path, starting with my husband and children.  I want to be known as a woman of grace, one who extends mercy to herself and to those around her. 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
was blind but now I see.

God freely extended grace and mercy to us.  We did not deserve it.  It was a gift.  Now that we've taken this gift for ourselves, we must learn to walk in it daily, and allow God to show us how to extend it to others.  God is full of compassion and I love His gentle reminders when we fall short.  My prayer is that I will walk in the light of His grace every day and lavish that same grace onto others.