The Impact of Grace

I am not a mommy blogger.  I do write, though.  Occasionally, I'll plow through the thoughts of comparison and feelings of insecurity and share what I have to say.  But this year, my word - my focus point - is "impact."  My scripture reference - the anthem I move in rhythm to - is 1 Peter 4:8-11.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in it's various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

(1 Peter 4:8-11 NIV)

My resolution this year is to focus and follow through with just a little "more of the same."  2015 was the best year of my life.  That doesn't mean it was an easy year... it means just the opposite.  It was a year of discernment and a bit of raw faith.  It was a year of, not necessarily arriving at who I am (because I learn something new every day), but finding out who I am not.  It was a smooth surface with some very rough edges... and in the center of it all is where I find myself at the beginning of 2016.  In the place I have arrived is where the message is uncomplicated... stay the course.  Keep doing what I'm doing, just do it better.

At a time when it's common to look forward with resolution, it's good to also reflect with a degree of intention to recognize how far you've come.  Last year, my resolution was straight forward.  I had only a few short months of sobriety under my belt when 2015 began and I was still battling depression and anxiety. What was I like when my journey began?  You wouldn't have wanted to know me. And it wouldn't surprise me at all if some who did would roll their eyes at my posts these days.  It's definitely something I have feared, though.  For some, the joyful, straight-laced and God-fearing version of me might be a bit far fetched.  But the truth is, I am not who I used to be and I never really was.  The core of me is exactly who God made me to be and who I am today.  Someone who has gone through a bit of hell and homelessness of the heart just to testify of God's amazing grace.  

We all have gifts.  I'm just learning about what mine are and could be.  But on a grand scale, that grace - the grace that picked my shattered spirit off the cold hard floor, pulled me out of years of darkness and made me whole again - is my most treasured gift, and it always will be. Because of it, I can be a wife, I can be  a mother, I can be a daughter, a sister and a friend. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God...

(Ephesians 2:8)

My "anthem" scripture for 2016 directs us to use our gifts to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace.  My focus for this year is to make an impact doing just that.  It occurred to me (just this morning, actually) that if I let fear of what other people will think or the fear of being rejected or ignored stop me from sharing my testimony of my greatest gift of all - GRACE - then I'm not sharing my gift and I'm not serving others...and if I'm not doing that, then I'm not making an impact.  Even one heart touched out of a hundred is indeed an impact.

Friends, let me encourage you.  Grace is our greatest gift. Our testimony of that grace, displayed by word or conduct, is our gift to others.  Don't let insecurities that you shouldn't be heard keep your mouth shut and hands tied.  Make an impact.  Use your gift.  Share your story.  For it's by our testimony that our insecurities and fears can be defeated (Revelation 12:11).