Bad Timing Grace

I got a call right in the middle of doing homework with my grandsons right before their mother was about to come get them.  I didn't respond well to the call. I just said that I was busy and couldn't talk right now and I'd call them back later.

Sure we all are busy from time to time and have experienced situations like this, but I didn't handle it calmly. I think my voice conveyed that I was frustrated/annoyed by the interruption in what I was doing. I was not being a good example of how Christ works in my life. Instead, I should have prayed to Christ for Bad Timing Grace. I'm prayerful that I will pray for this grace before answering the phone when I'm busy the next time.

Price Tag Grace

I went was in a local grocery store today. I picked up a head of lettuce, because it said it was ninety-nine cents. I got a couple of other things when I was there. I proceeded to go through the check-out. 

I noticed that the lettuce rang up at $1.29. I debated whether to say something or not, but the whole reason I got the lettuce was that it was ninety-nine cents. I did say something to the cashier, but remembering how I should be gracious as a Christian, I tried to not act too frustrated. I should have prayed for Price Tag Grace, but everything happened so fast! 

Fortunately, the sales lady took the $1.29 off and re-rang it up at ninety-nine cents. Was it really worth the thirty cent difference to draw attention to this? Probably not. I'm just so thankful that the cashier handled it graciously, as well.

Competitive Grace

Have you ever had someone who has been competitive with you for the recognition or the attention. It's frustrating to say the least when you can see through their behaviors, but others seem blind to it. It's easy to want to draw their attention to the overt actions of the person who is trying to pull most of the attention to themselves.

It's not always easy to throw away those visions of basking in the lime-light of the recognition or attention of others, but it is amazing when we ask for Competitive Grace. After praying for it, Christ can change our need for this attention to a calm feeling where we know Christ always knows the BIG picture and we no longer have to prove anything to anyone to feel secure inside!

Grateful for this Blog Grace

I'm just realizing how grateful I am for this blog. It's not that it's this blog that actually does anything, it's Christ that does it. He shows me how I get so caught up in other things and I tend to put Him on the back burner for times when things are less hectic.

So, you may ask me, "So, how's that working for you, Debbie?" Not very well, I have to admit. It is making the time for Christ in midst of recent busyness, that is opening up my eyes to what I've been doing. Working on these Christian blogs that Christ has led me to write, gives me Joy when it's felt so illusive, as of late. I feel blessed that Christ has given me Grateful for this Blog Grace, where He has shown me that He's right there in my corner even when I'm too busy to be in my own corner. 

Example of a Brief Prayer

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Acts 15:11

I was with someone who was scooping up some free popcorn. They didn't ask me if I wanted any. The person told me that I should get a bag of popcorn and then took it from my hands. They wanted me to get the popcorn for them to eat later.

It's such a silly thing, but it really did irritate me. Didn't that person think about whether I wanted some or not? Couldn't they have asked me if I wanted some before they took it from my hands? I found myself getting frustrated at that person. Then, it popped into my mind that that's not what Christ wants of me. He wants me to be gracious to those who irritate me, but I was too frustrated to be gracious at that moment.

What I prayed was, "Popcorn Grace," and immediately Christ calmed me down, so that I didn't respond to the person in a less than positive manner. Although the "Popcorn Grace" prayer was very brief, I was asking Christ to please give me grace with this popcorn situation, so I would respond in a gracious manner, and He did! It amazed me that He knew and understood my brief prayer and granted me that grace, so I could be more gracious as an example of how He works in my life! I have continued to use these brief prayers which are changing my life and my response to others. If Christ can do this for me, He can most certainly do it for you, as well. Try it...what can it hurt?