I have read the most amazing novel... Tender Graces by Kathryn Magendie. I literally haven't stopped thinking about it...it is the kaleidoscope I view all that has happened these last few days. It is through this lens I view my mothering and certainly many of my choices.
When I think of the word grace...I think of forgiveness although I know it has many different meanings and it is a word of significance for Christians in particular.
I struggle with accepting grace and giving grace...but I am ashamed to say that I struggle with forgiving others. My husband on the other hand is a very forgiving person who has shown me incredible grace as well as to others...He just does!
I on the other hand ( y'know the one you want to cut off...) revisit the trauma and ruminate until it's all fresh and new! Why?
I honestly don't know...I do the very thing I do not want to do.
I have been hurt in my life but no more than I have hurt others I am sure...
Why do I keep this record of wrong doings...when it is not what I want to do!
I do know that this flaw in my nature has kept me close to God...I mean I don't think he would like someone like me to roam too far away!
I loved this book...it has a few broken and interesting characters ...like me!
How about you? Is it easier to receive grace or to give it?
8 comments:
I'm thinking a trip to Barnes and Noble is in order for today - you are about the fourth person to rave about this book.
Giving and receiving grace is a daily struggle for me. If it were easy, it wouldn't mean so much.
That is it in a nutshell... isn't it?
I think Em said it very well! and yes a trip to the bookstore is in order today!
Hi Rhonda! I saw this post title on Betty's blog roll and had to come by and read the post. I love your honesty, and God certainly does too. This sounds like such a good book. I also loved your people watching post from Disney. Wish I had been there with you.
Much easier for me to give grace than receive it. But the need to receive it keeps me much more humble than I would be otherwise, and that is a blessing.
I so wish I could find that book here! I tried amazon, even a used version, but it's $14 shipping!! I think I'll wait until I see one here, but I'm hoping it is in time for your Bloggy Book Club!!
Ronda, this is so lovely...A beautiful way to start my morning, on this sun-drenched-over-the-smoky-mountain-ridgetops day.
I love the idea of grace and forgiveness . . . I love that this book had you thinking about it after you closed the pages . . . what more could a writer ask?
thank you.
I'm not sure which is harder -- giving or receiving forgiveness -- just that I'm not very good at either.
Hmmm... I think it's much easier to receive grace than to give it. I find I have the same weakness as you, that when someone does me or one of mine wrong, I have a very hard time forgetting it and just letting it GO. I may pretend to that person that all is well, but it's always there, festering in my mind. Ugh. Not a good way to be.
Justine :o )
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