Inspire Me

The first week of the new year has come and gone. How are you doing with your resolutions? ;)

I have been thinking a lot lately about the new year, and starting fresh, which led me to words that inspire me. I also asked my FB friends to give me words that inspire them. The interesting thing was that most of their words weren't even on my list!  Anyway, I've decided that for my January blog I'll be posting about words that inspire.

Today is Grace.

The actual definition of grace is:
1. simple elegance or refinement of movement. ie poise.

Isn't that funny? I never even thought of the word as meaning that! What an exact picture of how the world sees grace though. An outward expression of how you handle yourself. When I think about this definition I picture the scene in Princess Diaries when Mia is learning to walk with a book on her head, and learning to sit up straight while crossing her legs like a lady. It's all about her transformation from frumpy girl next door to gracefully elegant princess.

Definition 2:
(In Christian belief) The free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.

Bam! Grace. True grace.

Just like Mia was transformed into a picture of worldy grace, the Christian definition of grace reminds us that we are transformed from the old to the new. We too own simple elegance and poise but of a completely different calibur! As daughter's of the King we posess the elegance of a different kind of princess! It's not about sitting up straight, and walking tall with and air of importance. It's kind of the opposite, funny enough. Our grace allows us to lower ourselves into the dirt to build a house for a needy family in another country. It allows us to don grubby clothes and help a neighbor paint their kitchen. It pushes us to sit for hours just listening to a friend cry. Grace transforms us from thinking of the outward, worldy version of ourselves, and putting someone else before us. Isn't it funny how twisted and yet parallel the definitions are next to eachother?

While you're going about your day, in and out of work, up and down the stairs with another load of laundry, remember grace.  Not the first definition, but the second. Remember that exemplifying God's grace in the everyday things, IS actually exemplifying grace to people who know what true grace looks like.

Love you all! Make it a purposeful day!