Five minutes until bedtime and he remembers the homework.  Pulls out the computer, his notebook and pencil, all with labored breath.  Turns around, looks at me with eyebrows pressed together and whines, “I have twenty math problems to do.”  It’s too much for a tired boy.  He is looking for grace.

H and I just return home from an evening with guests from Asia.  Dinner and conversation with world changers while my young people eat pizza, play with friends, text us.  His memory, often found in my voice – it’s missing tonight.

This forgetting, it looms like a dark cloud and he works hard to make it disappear.  We’ve talked about it, what he can do to remember and I see that he is trying.  Writing down in the classroom what he attempts to remember without notes before. Admitting forgetfulness. 

But sometimes, in all our striving to do the right thing and change, we mess up.  And today, instead of reminding or punishing, I extend grace from the excess I receive earlier this week.

Because I know that real change doesn’t always happen by doing the right thing.  Hearts mold strong when nourished in love that looks like grace. Gives hope to start over, press on.

So I sit on the edge of his bed, tickle his back, pray over him.  He hugs his favorite pillow, the one that is flat and short of feathers.  With face turned away from me, in the gleam of the nightlight, he whispers, “I can’t believe I forgot about my homework.”  The guilt still clings to the heart.

“It’s okay honey.  I see that you are trying,” I affirm.  He turns his head toward me, smiles wide. I see the weight fall off in the eyes.  “Thanks Mom, and oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I have an academic team meeting tomorrow after school.”

I laugh, thank him for remembering, say goodnight.

The burdens we clutch look different on everyone, some of them only visible to the carrier.  What I bear  as a boulder, might be a feather for you.  Thankfully, grace abounds without limits.

Grace covers.

Grace restores.

Grace gives hope.

Grace heals.

Grace has no limits.

Grace requires no hoops to jump through.

Grace removes guilt.

 Grace ushers redemption.

Grace looks like blood flowing from Jesus for you.

Are you in need of grace today?  How do you extend and receive grace?  Tell me about it here.

“The grace of God is infinite and eternal.  As it had no beginning, so it can have no end, and being an attribute of God, it is as boundless as infinitude.”  ~James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Life

Linking with Ann today to ponder the practice of hope, how we live out this faith day by day.