Grace meets us wherever we are, but does not leave us where it found us.~ Anne Lamotte

I am indebted to the gift of grace. Grace is in the top of my gratitude list. Being in awe of grace, I shied away from writing about it. Who am I to write about grace? I accepted the challenge today. I have learned about the gift of grace more eagerly in the past three decades. God freely gives each one of us grace if we so choose to accept it. The world can be beautiful and harsh. It is grace that adds beauty to living life. Grace is that action that happens that surprises us because we thought we were undeserving and expected something else. Grace is that quiet voice or feeling, within, the voice of God leading us to live out grace. Grace is the tender word or hand of someone reaching out to us. Read the lyrics to U2's song Grace.

Grace is a gift that can only be given; one cannot get grace or earn it. That is the beauty of it. Grace is not a reward for a job well done. Martin Luther stated, "Grace does not lie asleep in the soul. Grace hears, leads, drives, draws, changes, works all in man, and lets itself be distinctly felt and experienced. It is hidden, but its works are evident."

I visited Staten Island one day on my own while accompanying my husband on a business trip to Manhattan one month after Hurricane Sandy had torn up the east coast. I truly had no idea what was in store for me that day. Everyone in my path that day from the ferry workers, bus driver, and people on the street were so kind and helpful. They wanted to share their stories and I was an eager listener. One such person, the woman in this image touched my heart that day. When I boarded the bus to head back to the ferry, I noticed her and her bag. In this bag was everything she owned. She had lost her apartment and was currently living in a shelter. My heart was breaking as she was an example of carrying on in the face of disaster. I helped her that day but what she gave me in return was something I will never forget. It was getting late. Although she had to be back at the shelter by the time it closed so she would have her spot, she took the time to take me to the correct bus and train so I could get the last ferry back to Manhattan. That is grace.

By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Peace.