Simplicity of grace

Sometimes I just try so hard to be something. I try hard to be a good person, a good teacher, a good leader, a good friend, in good shape, and to have a good appearance. Trying hard is exhausting.

This morning, I shoved on my running shoes and attempted to increase my heart rate for the first time since before foot surgery. With everything inside of me, I wanted to sprint off into the distance at breakneck speed. 7 weeks of pent-up energy was scratching at the cage, roaring to be released! But alas, my swollen feet could only handle a few milliseconds of jogging... so I slowed my pace and resorted to a strange-looking power walk. Strange memories of high school Health class, power walking in place, came to mind. Then the frustrations came.

"I just want to run!" "This is such a slow pace." "I'm bored." "My feet hurt."

But as my muscles grew tighter and my scars brought reminders of the reason I wasn't running, I began to understand the concept of patience... and God's way of teaching me to rely on Him.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." -Psalm 27:14

As I power walked, I began to notice things about that road which I had never noticed before. For the fast-paced runner, the scenery is rather "eh." Semi trucks, truck stops, gas stations, and chain-link fences. But when the runner slows down to a walk, she begins to notice things beyond the surface- things like squirrels climbing trees in the middle of the winter and the precious old lady who lives across the apartment complex. Simplicity.

In my pursuit of understanding grace, I've found the simplicity in letting God catch the falling and failing things. If it slips through my fingers, He reaches towards it and lifts it back up to me. And sometimes He even places something that I didn't even know I wanted right into the palm of my hand.