it can be a girl's name...

In case you don't know, my father is one of the greatest men who has ever lived. And as such, he never, ever runs out of wisdom which he lovingly imparts to his children. His most famous phrase (except for maybe, "I said to myself, 'self!'") is "Give grace." Those two words have built my family.

Dad has been saying them for years, but I never fully understood the concept of "giving grace" until about a year ago. Someone permanently close to me had done me a great disservice (or so it seemed at the time). My dad was not with me, so my natural thought was, "What would Dad do?" Immediately, I answered myself. Give grace. It didn't matter what this person had done, it didn't matter that my feelings were hurt, it didn't matter that I "knew" I was in the right. I needed to give grace. It was so easy and suddenly seemed so natural. It was a watershed moment for me. I began to deconstruct this idea of giving grace.

The act of giving grace is universal. It doesn't matter if someone has treated you poorly, you have been wrongfully accused, you have been judged harshly, you have been taken advantage of.... Giving grace is realizing that you are no better than the one who offends you, that you are capable of making the same mistakes as them, and that you choose to forgive them and treat them with love rather than bear a grudge against them.

After coming to this great moment of realization, I immediately started seeing the world differently. Instead of seeing what the world could do for me or what the world had done to me, I saw the world as being filled with opportunities for grace. In the past year, I have been wronged by many people. And every time, when anger, resentment and bitterness would well up inside me, I would hear my dad..."Give grace, Shelley." And each time, it got even easier. No wonder my dad can do it without batting an eye. At some point (probably learning it from his most excellent parents), he learned to give grace. And that's how he and my mother live their lives. My parents (and my whole family) have had run-ins with not-so-pleasant people. People who think we live under a rock, people who think we're going to hell because we watch movies or wear pants, and many other kinds. But every time, it's the same. Give grace. We don't need to be concerned with how others view us or treat us. All we can do is extend grace to them and pray that we are a ministry to them.

God saved us by grace alone. If He imparted saving grace to us, why shouldn't we give grace to others?

Always, always give grace.

Love, Shelley.