Grace.

It feels like years since I've last posted. Looking back on my last post at the beginning of the summer is awesome... it's been great to see how much this summer changed me. But this summer is a whole different post! Hopefully that one will come soon. But for now...

I'm in my new house in Seattle. Totally awesome. I feel so old. But that's beside the point. The other day, Angelique and I went to Cost Plus downtown. Because school hasn't started yet, we've done lots of shopping and cooking to kill time. Angelique had never been so we made the quick drive downtown.

Cost Plus is one of the car-friendly places downtown; they have a parking garage that gives you an hour free. So of course, after gawking over everything in Cost Plus our hour was almost up. We tried to hurry to check out but the man at the register was... well, not too quick. I even mentioned how we had to hurry but he was dawdling and making small talk.

After what felt like hours he finally checked me out and we started walking to my car. As we were leaving the store, I realized he short changed me. By a dollar. Which now seems somewhat significant since I'm buying so much for my house. So my decision was either to turn around, get the money, and end up paying for parking or keep going and not pay for parking. I turned around to get my money, and of course, the man took even longer figuring out the money he shorted me.

I was quite frustrated and irritated walking to the garage. Because of this one slow man, I was going to have to pay for parking. I was complaining to Angelique and she definitely saw a not-so-nice side of me. I even realized what I was doing and tried to stop but I still couldn't get over the fact. It was not a pretty side of me.

We got in my car and drove to the parking garage exit. The woman at the paying station saw how close we were to the hour and let us go through without paying. I was stunned. It was God's grace being shown to me. When I was acting my worst, God still extended His grace to me. He showed me that no matter how wretched I am, He is faithful and gracious. It was an awesome demonstration of His character.

Always remember that God's grace is constant. No matter how much we mess up, He is always there extending His merciful hand. And we need it so much! 

"And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." - Romans 3:24