Jennifer Grace

As a kid I used to joke about my middle name because I am the clumsiest person around. I trip up stairs, constantly am getting toothpaste in my eye and hurt myself on almost every adventure I attempt. I broke almost every valuable that my parents let me touch as a kid and so I had accepted the fact that I would never be described as graceful. However, the past year has caused me to really reflect upon grace and upon my name.

I think that my name is Grace because God knew how desperately I would need to be reminded of it every day of my life.

I need to be reminded how much it has changed me, how I am not the girl that I was before. I need to be reminded to show it to others and that justice is beautiful, but there is strength in grace and forgiveness. And I need to be reminded that when one is given a lot of grace, they are expected to share that with others.

Grace has become a integral part of who I am. I have come to see that every breath, every motion, every laugh and sob, is grace in action. There is no aspect of my life that grace has not touched.

In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul tells his readers “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” This past year has been one of the hardest of my life for a variety of reasons…but I am stronger and wiser after it. This is not because I learned how to handle life so well, but because I have learned how desperately I need the grace of my Father to guide me through every day. I could not be the woman that I am slowly but surely becoming if it was not for grace. My name reminds me daily of the wretch that I was, and could be again if it was not for God’s grace. When we come to grips with the fact that we are lost and alone without God we finally understand how desperately we need him.

My prayer for you reader is that you are able to see yourself through God’s eyes in 2014. This means seeing the dirt and the pain, but also the beauty and the grace. We all stray and fail, but we are loved by a perfect God nonetheless. He sees past our constant failure and chooses to redeem our weary troubled souls. I pray that you find rest, hope and joy in Christ throughout this year, but mainly I pray that you see how your life has been shaped by grace.