GRACE - The Best Way to Live

In this life, our plans seldom quite end up like we imagine. Today I was at a stoplight with my boys on the way to spend the day at Six Flags. "BANG" was the noise I heard simultaneous to my vehicle being thrust a few feet out into the intersection. In what felt like a millisecond, I asked my boys if everyone was OK and then watched in my rear view mirror as an embarrassed woman followed me through the intersection to the side of the road up ahead.

I don't know who felt worse as each of us stepped out of our vehicles to survey the damage to the back end of our Honda Odyssey. She was obviously upset with herself, apologizing numerous times and beginning to tear up as she noticed I had several children in the car. The reason I felt bad is because I've been on the offending side of a fender-bender, and I know that ugly feeling in your gut when you gather your thoughts enough to admit to yourself "That JUST happened!"

As I gathered insurance information from the woman, I tried to assure her by my demeanor that she had nothing to worry about - that I was not the kind of guy who was going to fake an injury and make her life miserable. And of course I had a selfish motive behind the grace and friendliness - namely, that I wanted to treat her exactly the way I would hope a man would treat my wife in the same situation. After reassuring her that the insurance companies would handle everything just fine, we went our separate ways.

Not exactly the kickoff I had envisioned for a father & sons day at the local theme park! As I reflected on the incident later, the blessing in disguise was that I had been able to show some grace and reassurance to a woman who was angry at herself for something any of us could easily do on any given day.

That's basically true about most everyday mistakes in life. Why do we get so irritated when people do something to "offend" us when on any given day we are just as liable? Why do we complain when our spouse or our children or our neighbor fails to live up to our expectations when on any given day we also fail? What gives us the right to hold a grudge against a person when we have been so freely forgiven by God through Christ?

I can think of times I've flown off the handle toward my kids or my wife or my friends about things MUCH less significant than a car accident! Today was just a reminder that GRACE is the best way to live. In fact - come to think of it, this day turned out pretty swell after all...