It was the end of a long week for us. Alex our son was busy as usual up in his room at his computer. Wendy my wife had decided to take Katie our daughter out to Michael`s to use her 40% off coupon and then show her around a fabric store. I was now alone in the living room and was trying to recapture some elusive peace.
Wendy was in the midst of leaving her full time job and launching out on her own which made me stressed and earlier in the week a window in our car had been smashed out apparently by a rock whipped up by a lawn trimmer. I had negotiated a settlement with the landlord but was still out of pocket for the deductible. Speedy Auto Glass didn`t have the required parts on hand so we were using a loaner while we waited for the repairs to be completed. I don`t like to wait or deal well with surprises or change so for me it had been a long week.
Wendy had suffered through a long day cleaning homes with a boss who refuses to open the car windows or even run the air conditioner as they drove from place to place. She was hot and exhausted when she got home but after we ate supper, out she went with Katie. I had decided not to go with them as I had something nagging at me and wanted to have some alone time to deal with it. I spent the entire time they were gone in prayer and meditation trying to fix what was wrong with my heart and mind.
When Wendy and Katie arrived home Wendy decided to water the gardens and after that we were discussing what we might want to snack on. I thought for a moment and for some reason a picture of a strawberry rhubarb pie came to my mind but I realized that we would have to go to the store for it and it had been a long day for everyone so I only mentioned it for conversation sake.
Still feeling unsettled I retired upstairs to the computer and decided to distract myself with watching some Youtube and for some reason I typed in "Gods grace". I began watching clip after clip of different videos based on the grace of God. Some were songs and others were mini sermons and they spanned a lot of denominational ground. All of them were expressing various aspects and perspectives on God's grace. This is an area I have a lot of interest in and found myself amazed at the way these different denominations were interpreting this topic. It really impacted me and gave me a lot to think about. Eventually I realized that I had been a long time at this so I went downstairs to find Wendy.
To my surprise she was in the kitchen preparing a home made strawberry rhubarb pie! She had worked all day In hot sweltering conditions, fed us supper, looked after Katie’s needs, watered the garden and then instead of sitting down and resting she chose to make me a pie. Something I wasn`t able to do for myself or was even expecting. As I watched her construct this pie I suddenly realized that this was a great example of what I had just been watching on Youtube.
This pie was prepared and given to me completely out of selfless love. I in no way deserved it or had earned it in any way. All I could do is receive it and express my joy and thankfulness and let the occasion of it work in my heart.
When you are a recipient of grace it does something that resonates within you. I was a lucky man. I was surrounded by grace and letting circumstances cloud my vision. We had a lot of stressful things happening in our lives and I was worried about it all. Fearful that the financial rug would be pulled out from under us somehow thinking we might lose everything.
God used Wendy and her pie to remind me that His grace is sufficient for all our needs. Remembering all this finally brought me the peace and joy I badly needed because I realized that in Jesus I already had everything I needed and that could never be taken away.
I asked Wendy where the rhubarb came from and she said that earlier that week much to her mom`s dismay Wendy's dad who was suffering from alzheimer's had by accident pulled out all the rhubarb at their house. Wendy`s mom who rely`s heavily on God's grace to help her through each day had given her a whole big bag of it to take home the other day.
I thought about the pie and my father in law's alzheimer's and concluded that God's grace wastes nothing and weaves it all into the tapestry of our lives, the good and the seemingly bad. Knowing this is tremendously helpful I think when certain events and circumstances seem to make no sense.
Epilogue...It has been 5 years since I wrote that story and a lot has changed. Wendy`s mom passed away, Ed her dad is in a nursing home and my dad passed away. Wendy has her own business cleaning but one thing has not changed, God has been faithful and gracious every day.
