Okay, that's a gigantic exaggeration. We actually had a mighty good time, and I'm so thankful for the health and energy to enjoy it and for loved ones with whom to share it. Thank You, Lord.
I'm also very thankful for the gift of home! And friends...routine...regular food (that doesn't cost an arm and a leg)...our dog...North Carolina...neighbors...hot baths...time alone in peace and quiet with the Lord and His Word (well, quiet except for Mr. Bingley who is unexplainably barking his head off at the moment)...exercising with my buddies in the morning...and open space (that's not crammed full of people). Yes, Disney was great...but home is better!
While we were there, it took an act of Congress to get a single picture of my wonderfully photogenic, but terribly photo-averse, husband and son. About the best I could manage were a bunch of "Disney from behind" pics like...
Now don't get me wrong. I'm so thrilled and grateful we were able to go to Disney with our son and savor the fun, the beauty, the childlike wonder of it all. But oh my goodness, Dorothy was right, "There is no place like home."
Sometimes you have to go away for a bit to be reminded of all you have right here in your own backyard. Life's greatest treasures are often also her simplest and freest ones--
The people we love.
The dirt beneath our feet.
The taste of food.
The smell of pine trees.
The sky paintings at sunrise and sunset.
The deep breath of crisp, clean air.
The unutterable joy of being known and loved by the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth.
The strength-filling, wisdom-giving, hope-engendering gift of God's ever fresh Word.
All grace.
Oh Lord, forgive me for how easily I can suffer from grace-amnesia. I forget Your goodness. I forget Your faithfulness. I forget Your mercy. I forget Your presence. I forget Your power. I forget Your forgiveness. I forget Your love.
Here's the terrible problem with grace-amnesia: We forget to pray. We forget to trust. We forget to look to our Almighty Lord in dependence and humility.
And instead, we worry. We scheme. We manipulate. We try to work out things by ourselves. We try to control and cling to our things rather than cling to the One who controls all things.
Ah, yet such wonderful words from James 4:6, "But He gives more grace."
He. Gives. More. Grace.
No matter how forgetful we may be, He gives more grace. No matter how large or small the need, He gives more grace. No matter our weaknesses or failures, He gives more grace. No matter our past or our future, He gives more grace.
His grace is ever and always sufficient. II Cor.12:19 "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Even for the grace-amnesiac.
Aren't you thankful?
Today we have the choice. Will we live like a grace-amnesiac or like a soul saved by grace? Will we act based upon our feelings or based upon our faith? Will we choose to worry or worship and pray? Will we live like who and Whose we are--children of the King, Princes and Princesses of the Almighty--or as captives of the world?
The Lord has showered us with His amazing and never-ending grace through the Gift of His Son...but we must choose how we'll respond. Oh goodness, how prone we--or at least I--am to wander and forget! "But He gives more grace."
This day, this never-to-be-repeated day, might we choose to bathe in the ocean of His grace and live by and and through and for the perfect Son who gave His life that we might live. It begins by remembering and then responding with gratitude and trust. Because in Him, we are truly and forever home. And there's no place, no person, no possession, no nothing like Home.
To God be the glory.
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