Much Grace

My family just returned from a grace-filled vacation. Many people wouldn't see it that way, but I do. Truly. Despite the 17 hour travel that turned into 27 hours. Despite the broken elbow and wasted day at a foreign hospital. Despite a five-year-old who had some pretty spectacular temper tantrums when we made her hold our hands crossing London streets. Despite the flat tyre (We were in Scotland...They have tyres, not tires!). And the 30 pound parking ticket (That's about $47 US, for a parking ticket!!).

Yes, all that stuff really happened. And there were certainly times when I was in enough pain from my elbow to make me miserable, but overall, we had a wonderful time. Looking back on it, I wonder how. How on earth could we possibly enjoy the vacation when so many bad things happened?

God's grace. That's the only way. God gave my husband and me insight into our daughter's needs amidst her horrific tantrums. God graced me with enough endurance to make it through the pain, and with enough wisdom to know when to say, "Not me. You guys go ahead!" (Like climbing to the outer walk at St. Paul's Cathedral or riding a horse in the highlands of Scotland.)

God gave my husband the grace he needed to become the caretaker of hair for both me and our daughter, even when I needed to have my ponytail fixed in public! God's grace filled our daughter as we searched endlessly (seemingly, anyway) for an open health care centre. She was able to play and sing happily for many hours.

We were able to see the blessings in a flat tyre: Being only 1/2 mile from a service station with a willing mechanic and knowing that nobody had been hurt in the process of getting the flat. There were times of breath-taking beauty, of quiet friendship with fellow travelers, and of complete exhaustion with a bed available. In it all, we were blessed and filled with God's grace. There is no way I could have been so peaceful about it all on my own.

God is Good.
All the time.