Why Write About Accepting Grace?
My Story
I want to write a book about accepting grace because I’m still figuring it out. I’ll share more of my story in the book, but I grew up with an alcoholic mother. After battling cancer for five years, she died when I was 16. When I was 25, my brother-in-law died unexpectedly. He was only 20. Then my closest friend from high school died after battling brain cancer. After that, when I was 28, my dad died quite unexpectedly. And recently, my best friend since childhood died unexpectedly as well. I left out a few major trials and tragedies in there, but there has been a 10-15 year stretch in my life of grief, suffering, and horror.
Yet, I can see the undeniable thread of God’s grace running through all of it, weaving together a beautiful story of redemption, love, and unshakeable and unrelenting hope. His grace chased me and my family down in every season of life. I want you to see that in your own life as well.
Our Need for Grace
Also, when I consider the many temptations and struggles with the various sins I’ve battled, and continue to battle, I see my need for grace all the more. I want to see the connections between accepting grace and overcoming sin. If you’re struggling with a particular sin like anger, lust, bitterness, gossip, jealousy, or lying (you know your faults) … I’d love the opportunity to help you (and me) discover how God’s grace not only means we’re forgiven, but we can, in fact, change.
Sin and suffering aside, I see my need for grace in the current season I’m in. I’ve been married for over ten years, with three girls (ages 7, 4, and 10 months at the time of writing this) and I continue to see my need for grace every day. Marriage and parenting have a way of removing any doubt of my need for grace. Perhaps the same is true for you.
Lastly, I want to explore the connection between God’s grace and the good things we have and the good things that happen in our lives. God’s grace can help us in our sin and suffering, but it can also help us make sense of all the beauty and blessings in our lives. Grace keeps us from drowning in despair when we’re suffering or struggling with sin, but grace also keeps from floating into pride and complacency when things are going well.
Exploring How We Accept Grace
Whatever stage of life we’re in, we need grace. We need it in our suffering, in our sin, for every moment, good and bad. There is no time when we don’t need God’s grace. Thankfully, as we’ll see, His grace is the most abundant resource in the universe. He gives it freely, unbegrudgingly, and abundantly.
But what do we do with it? I want to explore the process of how we accept grace. Is there some formula to it? Or is it more of a moving target? Is it more of a lifestyle? Is it a conscious choice we make each day, each moment? Is it something we do, something we think about, or something we behold? Can it become like a muscle that we build, so that the more we “do” it, the more we get better at it (I would think so).
There are many facets to God’s grace, so the book won’t cover everything. Truly, it will take all eternity to even grasp the grace of God. But for the time He’s given us, I want to explore the reality of God’s grace, the importance and process of accepting it, and the transformation that can take place when we do accept His amazing grace.
My Prayer for You
My hope and prayer is that, by God’s grace, your life will be changed by reading through this site, and eventually, the book. I pray that you will see the grace of God in your life everywhere you look – and that you would joyfully and humbly accept it. I pray that you would see God a bit more clearly and that you would see God as a gracious Father. My prayer is that in some real way, God would use this site to bring you closer to Jesus and help you live with humble joy and constant gratitude for His amazing grace.
“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
(2 Peter 3:18)
If this site encourages you and you’d like to (eventually) read the book, please follow along on the Accepting Grace social media channels for more encouragement and updates.
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