Christmas Miracle.

Grace is outrageous.  I think I am only beginning to comprehend it.  I have found clever ways to cheapen and distort it, destroying its potency.  Yet there is grace still yet to be had.

To speak of being the recipient of grace is one, to give it away is another. My friend CW and I experienced the latter tonight (yet we could also argue the former?).  Sloshing in the rain to cross the street from church we showed up Ed McMahon style with a huge gift basket along with a $1000 check for a neighboring family in need.  This over-the-top gift was compiled through the generosity of others in the church who hadn't even met the couple.  Now to receive grace one must be willing to accept it.  And we weren't so sure that handing over a large check would seem like we pitied them after they had expressed to us no handouts.  But we went ahead.  After presenting the gift basket and watching their three kids eagerly examine its contents, CW went on to disclose that we had "one more thing" to give them, which led to her presenting the check with the amount.  I waited for the reaction.  The wife's eyes grew large as she covered her mouth in disbelief which made CW teary, and me a happy witness to it all.  This was better than Oprah!

Our human efforts at grace are but a shadow of the Ultimate Grace of all.  Imagine how different this makes your Christmas celebration.