I’ve been an opinionated momma for the past 10 years or so.  I ensure that my children are loved and well taken care of everyday, and I don’t bite my tongue when I see an injustice.  This momma bear instinct in me has grown into other areas of my life where my emotions can run high.  I’ve recently taken a step back and really thought about if this is the right thing to do.  Am I showing grace in these actions and words?

That brings me to thinking of the new year and how I can incorporate God’s grace into my everyday life, conversations, and actions.

Grace:  favor, kindness, blessing.  Grace is a reoccurring theme in the bible and He willingly bestows it upon us on a daily basis.  Grace is God giving the greatest treasure to the least deserving, which is all of us.  And here I am, unworthy of His grace, praying for it daily.

Social media has turned ordinary Christian people, including myself, into self-righteous drones.  We see a post by a “friend” and feel the need to throw our opinion into it, whether it is positive or negative.  Controversial issues are ubiquitous on newsfeeds and the desire to express our own thoughts burns inside us.  And so with a few finger punches on our phone’s keypad we deliver our words on a cold, glass screen.

These words.  Are they necessary?  Eh, probably not.  Lighthearted bantering of opinions can be fun, but just like a bunch of rowdy boys roughhousing it can turn ugly real fast.  These words can linger in our friends and family’s thoughts through the night.  I often find myself wishing I had shown more grace in my words, or not commented at all.

So this year I am praying for more grace.  Oh how my life so badly needs His beautiful grace to encounter the hustle and bustle of my every day life.  I need His grace when casually scrolling FaceBook.  I need His grace when my child with special needs is on his ninth hospital stay for the year.  I need His grace when I have accomplished something and I’m proud of myself.  I need His grace when encountering a mother complaining about her child who is so desperately seeking her undivided attention.  I need His grace when sitting in a restaurant and having onlookers gawk at my child with special needs blow bubbles with his mouth.  I just NEED His grace.

I sin daily.  I repent and ask for forgiveness.  I sin again.  I repent, again.  But oh my heart how He loves and forgives us.  His grace is so much bigger than my sin.  I’m in desperate need of his unmerited favor and mercy, all the time.

This year I want to do many things and have a few resolutions swirling around in my head that I’ll probably-eh probably not accomplish, but my number one is asking for God’s wonderful grace to stay the course.  I crave His goodness.  I want to share His grace with others in my words, actions, and thoughts.  Will I fail in my endeavor?  Probably so.  But you can bet your bottom dollar that I will try and try again.  Oh to be full of grace…

We need less mindless Twitter wars, less FaceBook bashing, less Instagram envy posting, and less SnapChat sass; we need more grace, and a whole bunch of it.  Can I get an amen?  (:

Please join me in praying for God’s grace to surround us so that we can serve and love him more fully this year and every year.

Happy New Year folks!