adolescent grace

Grace...
 forever descending
   forever becoming
She's childlike but not childish.
She says what comes to her mind.
She questions and searches and explores for the sake of joy.
She rejoices in the unsought reminders of the story that tells us who we are.

This playful rendition of the nativity pageant giggled grace to me today
and inspired the reflection that follows:

Kids bubble over with grace.
My kids do anyway...
and not just at Christmastime.

I felt Grace's presence so keenly today.  I saw her through my family's eyes.
It's personal, but you're welcome to take a peek...


Sleeping in.  First Saturday of Christmas break.
The start of a three-week sabbath rest from weekday, workday, schoolday stress.

My first words offered to Deb, "I love you. How can I serve you today?"
 - where did THAT come from? Surely not from me-in-who-I-am-alone.

Rested yet drowsy, I trip downstairs, turn up the heat,
and attend to the coffeemaker while reflecting on yesterdays events.

I was able to smile over the smell of my own morning breath,
Knowing that today's coffee could be slowly sipped
 instead of chugged as a drug.
This somehow made it much easier to put away those dishes
 while waiting for the Peets to brew.
So Grace answered the question I'd asked,
without Deb needing to verbalize a thing.

Returning to bed, I find my 20 year-old daughter cuddled up next to my wife.
Eros fled the scene, but Philia & Storge' waltzed in
and Grace quickly bridged the gap between
momentary disappointment
and an hour of
college-kid
sandwich,
catching up
with our first-born.

The last few months have been exceptionally difficult for her.
Her awareness of my failures strained our relationship
 and her physical distance magnified the emotional distance.
Remote reconciliation is a modern oxymoron.

She's separated from us by 1,950.3 miles and from her boyfriend by 6,503.76 miles.
Until teleporting is a reality we will have to settle
for moderate gratitude that facebook, skype and texting
do indeed keep us connected if not "in touch".

That separation never felt greater than yesterday
when I got the call from her that she'd been in a car wreck.
She'd flown to Cincinnati to visit Deb's aging father.
He made a bad decision on the highway
that could easily have cost them both their lives.

The hand of God delivered them and several others from serious injury.
We prayed for wisdom and asked for favor.
Many of you joined your prayers with ours.
We didn't need to storm heaven to wake the Father,
He was not caught off guard by our plight.
Yet He was pleased to hear so many of his children
 uniting their voices, expressing their concerns,
 on behalf of our big little girl.

Grace manifested again as a seat opened up
on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
So now we have her home three days earlier than expected.
Simply wonderful.

This Christmas we celebrate the birth of Christ with six adolescents in the house.  Our oldest just turned 20.  Our two boys are 16 and 14... and our youngest, MaryGrace just turned 12.  This year we've got the added blessing of two Chinese students both age 17 who are staying with us for the year.  That's a lot of adolescent energy, a lot of transition, a lot of opportunity to extend grace and to look for it wherever it may bloom.  My friend Jerry posted a remembrance to his facebook wall  -12 years ago today they lost their beloved daughter - age 21 - to an aneurysm as she walked across the same college campus where my daughter now studies.  A parents grief brings out my gratitude for every single day with four great kids.

Teenagers - no longer carefree children, but not yet worry-driven adults.
They linger in between.
Angst and unexpected angry outbursts.  Yeah, we got that.
But mostly a whole lot of grace ... showing up in so many amazing ways.

My kids.
Our story.
Best. Pageant. Ever.