GRACE. It is a word that we come across often but do not always stop to think about. Yet, when I do stop to think about it, I always have to remind myself what it means: getting something I do not deserve. Wow. How often do I get what I do not deserve? I don't know about you, but I feel like I have been shown grace beyond compare.
As I reflect on my past few weeks in China, I am overwhelmed by the ways that I have gotten what I do not deserve. Let me list a few...
1. To start off, I'M IN CHINA!!!!!!!! for freeeee!!!! I did not have to pay to study in China for 8 months. Do I deserve this? NO. But, am I here? YES. All the doors that God has opened, all the obstacles He allowed me to pass, all the ways my needs are provided... Man, God is good.
2. I have been blessed with the best roommate ever who is also my best friend in China! Cynthia and I have gotten along SO well! She is so easy-going and so kind and so considerate and so respectful and ALL OF THE ABOVE! Also, she has a desire to get to know Jesus more so we're going to church together, praying and reading the Bible together! Before coming to China, I was worried that I wouldn't find any friends who I can have deep life conversations with but I have a roommate better than I could have imagined!
3. For the last two Sundays, I have had no trouble finding a church to go to! It just so happens that God places the right people at the right time in order to lead me to a church on Sunday morning. If you know me, I am not very good at thinking ahead. So I usually forget to figure out my plans to go to church until Friday or Saturday. Yet, I have been able to attend church even in China!
4. I was so nervous for who my host family was going to be before we moved in. But these last few days have been amazing! It's so hard to move into a family--they are their own traditions, way of doing things, humor, preferences, eating style, foods...etc. However, I have a very caring family and they have taken SUCH good care of me. Even more, I have an 8-year-old sister!!!!! What I've always wanted! Not only did I get an awesome host family, I have a little sister like I've always wanted!
5. SO many friends and my family have taken the time out of their days to talk to me! I am so grateful for technology that allows me to connect back home! No matter how well I am adapting to things here, it is always nice to have a little piece of home in the middle of my day! The encouragement, the laughter, the short and long conversations, all SO good :)
6. God has been placing people in my path for anything from working with kids to going to visit orphanages. It's just SO amazing--the connections that get me where I feel He wants me.
So that's just to list a few. But yup. Especially during times like these, I feel like I have received SO much more than I deserve. It's so amazingly overwhelmingly AWESOME.
The cool thing about grace, though, there's no way to return grace. But it is possible to let the grace that you have received overflow into the lives of those around you. By recognizing this, I think we will live a life that is more free, more joyful, more loving, and more like what we were created to do. I hope that by reflecting on the grace that I've been shown, I can better show grace to those around me regardless of who they are or what they have done.
