The Wonders Of His Love

The Christmas Carol, “Joy to the World,” proclaims the truth that…

“He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love…”

Made in His image, we are most comfortable, peaceful and joy-filled when we demonstrate the wonder of His love in our lives. And that requires large doses of grace.

When things are forgotten or errors made, there is a choice that must occur. Judgment and anger or grace and laughter. That is how it works in our house. We have learned that a chuckle and a hug when grace is extended is a whole lot more fun than a condemning, angry spirit. Because frankly, today it is his mistake, but tomorrow it will likely be mine. We all need grace at some point, so we may as well learn to extend it and accept it.

Loving like that makes all the difference. Yesterday a woman told me that I am the only wife she knows that speaks so well of her husband after over four decades together. It isn’t because Dana is perfect that I can say wonderful things about him. It is because he showers me with grace when I need it and I do the same for him. We don’t always get it right, but getting it wrong makes us rush back to grace because it feels so much better! This year, may your home and heart be filled with the wonder of His love and grace because ....

Marriage is most appealing when grace is most apparent.

Amazing Grace

It has been over a year since I heard him say it, but he said it often enough that it is etched in my memory – the sincerity of his voice and the imploring look in his eyes. “The message at my funeral is not stories of my virtue, but of God’s grace.” Dad, if you knew him well, was not a man who even seemed to need grace. For as long as I can remember he was kind and wise and generous and all things good. But, he was adamant. “I am nothing without the grace of God. I accomplish nothing of value without His saving grace.” He understood fully that we truly are empty shells of good intentions… or devious schemes… until God’s grace begins to mold us into what we are to become for His story, and His glory.

It is true. He was right. God’s grace is essential for each of us. It is the beginning of shaping us into the person that He made us to be…the particular purpose He has for us to fulfill. We can’t achieve it with our good intentions or with our knowledge or with consistent practice. His grace is the ingredient that gives us moldability. It is what enables us to be supple clay in the hands of the Potter. It removes the hardened stones that prevent our spiritual formation; that keep us from being a vessel that His Spirit can inhabit. It softens us with living water, cleansing the inherit sin that hides our true worth.

Here is the truth about grace. It is a gift that transforms us if we are willing to be transformed. It is not a blanket forgiveness policy that enables us to continue to live according to our desires or seek to fulfill our plans regardless of God’s will. If His grace doesn’t bring about a new life for us then we have refused the gift He came to bring. If your kids kept repeating the same offense and you constantly extended grace without consequences, they would not grow and mature and develop into responsible adults. If your spouse extends grace to you, but you never change the behavior that hurts them, that grace accomplished nothing other than an increase in bad behavior and more pain in your relationship.

This Christmas take a tip from my Dad. Allow God’s grace to transform you… your marriage… your family… your relationships. Stop trying to accomplish perfection by what you do or don’t do. Instead, let the grace He came to bring begin to shape you into that person that makes you appear to not even need grace! It worked for my Dad! Don’t kid yourself into believing that your efforts are enough. We are nothing without the grace that is a free gift from God. Accepting His life-changing grace will change everything! That’s why it’s called AMAZING!

Redeeming Grace

Silent Night! Holy Night!

Son of God, Loves pure light

Radiant beams from Thy Holy face

With the Dawn of Redeeming Grace

Jesus Lord at Thy birth

Jesus Lord at Thy birth

These are the familiar words of the third verse of the Carol we all know as Silent Night, written by Father Mohr and set to music by Franz Gruber in 1818 in a little village in Austria. Have you ever really paid attention to those words? In them we can find the true significance of God, wearing the clothing of human skin, coming to earth to bring Light and Grace. That very first Christmas was the beginning of a story of Grace that has changed the lives of all who have accepted it.

Grace is a beautiful thing. It is the granting of a pardon where it is unearned and undeserved. Perhaps this comes about by the miraculous ability to see things through the eyes of another. In his message on Sunday, the Pastor stated that, “Grace is the unsettling solution for just about everything.” Imagine how our relationship dynamics could change, how our arguments could be tamed, how our marriages could be impacted if showered with grace. I am not sure how that would look for everyone else, but for me, extending grace begins when I can grasp that my perspective is not the only perspective in the house that is of value. When I am able to look at the history of another person and allow myself to feel what they must be feeling to create the behaviors they are exhibiting, it truly changes my response to them. People aren’t just arbitrarily nimrods. There is a reason behind their words and actions. Imagine what it may be, if you don’t know, and let that transform the way you feel about them.

“But he doesn’t deserve it!” “She made this mess, now she can reap the consequences.” If you were wondering if you are a grace-filled person, I propose that if those sentences are a foundational part of your mindset, the answer is NO. Grace sounds like, “He may not deserve my best, but I am giving it anyway,” or “She really messed this up, but I feel like I have made some mistakes, too, and I should help her correct it.” Is it easy? Nope! In fact, the literal verse from the pen of Father Mohr says,

Silent Night! Holy Night!

Brought the world peace tonight,

From the heavens’ golden height

Shows the grace of His holy might

Jesus, as man on this earth!

Jesus, as man on this earth!

If you are a little short of “Holy Might” you may want to ask God for the strength it takes to extend the grace that is needed in order to bring healing to your home. It is far simpler to give a cold shoulder and not build a strong relationship. But, in the end, all you have is the end if you are unwilling to shower others with grace.  

“The Word [Story of God] became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, 

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14

Since we are created in His image, perhaps we will find our greatest fulfillment when we are full of grace and truth. What a wonderful Christmas gift to give to your family!

Thankful

Sunday the Pastor challenged us to tell the story of someone who has made your life better. What a wonderful Thanksgiving tradition to begin. My list of people who have blessed and enriched my life is so incredibly long that it would exceed the maximum word limits for this blog! But, you know who you are and you know I love you so much for just being YOU!

The person whose story I want to tell in this blog is my husband. I feel like you need to know a bit of our back story, because as I tell you all the reasons my life is better because of Dana, you may think I am “lucky” or we are “unique” or that we “married well.” Truthfully, we have been a mess, lost and basically dumb!  We dated all through my high school years. It was a rocky, immature relationship. We got married too young. Kids came before we were financially prepared (or prepared in just about any possible way). He was selfish. I was passive aggressive and manipulative. We were both awful at communication. Neither of us had a shining example of what marriage should look like, but we both wanted something that resembled happily every after. We had a lot to learn, and we did, primarily by trial and error… emphasis on error! We knew more of what NOT to do than what we should do. So, we plugged away, through tears and laughter. There were times when I just wanted to walk away, but we stuck it out and grew in many ways.

Fast forward 46 years from that first date… and I can say that I am blessed so much more than I deserve by the man that has learned to love me so well. Dana is a fixer. Especially of mechanical things. He can fix anything! We seldom have to call a repair man. It make sense to him, as if there was a blueprint in his head of things he has never seen before. I, however, am not a mechanical object. Almost five decades later, he is still searching for the blueprint in his head to tell him how to fix what is hurting or frustrated in me. And, I am a woman so that’s pretty much a moving target! Because he can’t “fix” me, he will often wait silently for me to process enough to be able to tell him what I think I need. I once read his silence as indifference. But, his love and dedication to me have taught me otherwise. He will never be gushy romantic who reads my mind and has the right words written in the sky for me. And that’s fine with me because I know that whatever I need, he will do his best to provide it… if I can find a way to tell him what it is.

I am so very thankful to have a husband who consistently puts my needs ahead of his (just as soon as he figures out what they are) and who helps me grow into a better person. If he always met my needs immediately, I would never have learned to communicate.

I am thankful to have the companionship of a man who will, on occasion, switch from a football game to a Hallmark Movie and snuggle on the love seat with me.

I am thankful to have a man that is willing to work extra hard in a cold garage to fix things rather than take money out of savings to pay someone else to do it.

I am thankful to be with a man who left a substantial income, successfully climbing the corporate ladder to follow the call of God and do something that gave him more time with his family and made an eternal difference in the lives of others.

I am thankful to have a husband that can change a diaper, wash dishes, run a vacuum and make the coffee every morning and never complain about it.

I am thankful to have a husband who partners with me in ministry and is (in my opinion) the most gracious, warm and welcoming man at Mill Creek, even though he is truly an introvert!

I am thankful that my guy believes in me and gives me courage to do what I would never attempt to do on my own… like travel alone to Australia for a 3 month mission trip or let people see my artwork (truly both of those things are equally terrifying to me).

I am thankful for a man that affirms me. He seldom tells me I am amazing or strong or good, but his goodness to me has been such a constant that I have learned to read between the lines and find the affirmation that I need. And, when I can’t find it, I have learned that it is okay to ask and he will reassure me that I am enough.

I am thankful for Dana Brady, not because he always gets it right, but because he knows the value of allowing God to transform us into a new creation. He knows that there is more than one way to see things and he is willing to let God’s transforming power alter the way he thinks; the way he sees others; the way he finds truth; the way he loves.

This blog post is already too long so I dare not continue to tell more of his wonderful attributes, but please know, if your marriage is less than ideal, that there is something for which you can be thankful… even if it is a deficiency in them that helps you become a stronger, better person. Look for the good. It’s there!

I love you, Dana Brady, and am so thankful for you!