Surprised by Grace

When we were preparing to have our first child, we took every parenting class that we could find and read every book that we could get our hands on because we knew we would need help once we brought a tiny little baby into the world. However, as we made it through the toddler years and the first days of school, I think that we may have gotten a little too confident in our parenting abilities. Our oldest is now entering that awkward pre-teen stage and some of our tried and true parenting techniques are not working so well anymore. So, I decided to take a few classes on parenting “tweens,” and I’ve found them to be both thought provoking and extremely useful.

This week, the instructor was looking ahead to the teen years and pointed out that sometimes parents and their teens get into a cycle where they are “knocking heads” at every turn – so much so that the teen just starts to expect a negative response from the parent no matter what they do. The instructor suggested that if you’re in one of those times with your child, sometimes it can help to simply stop and surprise them with grace. I thought that was great advice, but beyond that, the phrase that she used has been stuck in my head and in my heart all week long.

Surprise them with grace!

What a great thought! It works in a lot of situations – not just with a difficult teenager. If the cashier at the drive thru window messes up your order, rather than getting angry and glaring at them, surprise them with grace! If someone cuts you off in traffic, rather than honking your horn and calling them every unholy name in the book, surprise them with grace! If the checker at the grocery store is slower than molasses (and that’s the one I always get!), rather than grumbling under your breath and tapping your foot impatiently, surprise them with grace! If your spouse leaves his socks in the middle of the floor – again – rather than complaining or nagging, surprise him with grace!

Remember the bumper sticker that was popular a few years back? – “Practice Random Acts of Kindness.” Let’s take that one step further and “Surprise them with grace!” It might be just the thing that will remind them that you are able to show grace to them because God poured out his grace and mercy on you.

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” – 2 Peter 1:2