Glimpses of Grace

I am one of those people that is always looking for that answered prayer, the “signs” or the meaning in situations. There are times that I catch glimpses of God’s grace, in my life and in the lives of those around me. I tend to quickly forget though and have times where I am not “seeing” what is the truth in front of me.

The other day I was confronted with one of those “truths” and thought that maybe I should start making a record, keeping track of those times where I have seen God’s grace in my life. Times where I have witnessed an answer to prayer, times where I have felt the Holy Spirit leading me. If I had these times recorded, then in those periods where I struggled with doubt I could look back and see how God has walked with me, answered me, lead me and remember that I am not alone. He does answer prayers, not always in my time frame or in the way I would hope..but the answers are there. Do I always see them? Am I catching those “Glimpses of Grace”?

We support a missionary couple from our church. They are in a foreign country with 2 small children. I miss having them close as friends, but I have so enjoyed developing a new friendship by e-mail and through prayers. This week we are committed to pray for them. On Tuesday morning our family was saying our prayers together before heading off to work. In the middle of the prayers a “thought” came to mind that I should have e-mailed this couple and asked if they had any specific prayer needs over the next week. I had forgotten about that passing “thought” until I got into work. There in my e-mail was a message sent from them the evening before with just that – their specific prayer needs. I know that God speaks to us, sometimes in the strangest of times and places but He does speak to us. Am I listening??

I had lunch with a good friend today and she was a bit frazzled. She had lost her purse at the grocery store the night before and had spent the morning canceling her debit cards and checking account, all the stuff that comes with that kind of situation. She had gone to the store 2 times to check if someone had turned it in with no luck. After lunch we hugged and I said I would say a prayer that someone would at least bring her purse back – she didn’t care about the cash, but she wanted back some of her more prized personal effects. An hour after lunch she e-mailed me and the store had the purse all along!!

In March I had the opportunity to host a speaker at a conference for the program I am involved with. It was an amazing experience and Dominic and I spent the weekend with a wonderful woman Stephanie. She was such a joy to be around and she has continued to enrich my life since that time. In addition to spending time with Stephanie I had a chance to meet some of the other speakers. One of them was a woman named Sarah. I connected with Sarah again after the conference by e-mail and was invited to be a part of her Prayer E-mail Circle. Once a month a group of 30 or so people submit prayer requests and we all pray for each other. One of the other “prayer warriors” was a woman named Suzanne. In one of her requests she asked for prayers in regards to their struggle with getting pregnant and recent miscarriages. I e-mailed Sarah and asked her to pass along a message I had to Suzanne, and Suzanne and I have been e-mailing almost daily ever since. Sarah and Suzanne both live in California. Next Saturday our whole family is going to – you guessed it – California!!! I am so excited to see Sarah again and to meet Suzanne in person. They have been a blessing to me in ways that I can’t possibly explain. I would have never guessed that when I said yes to being a host that my life would be so blessed – and for so long!!

I know that there have been and will be many more “Glimpses” to come. I hope to continue to share them here from time to time. For now I hope to keep my heart and my ears open to hearing that still small voice that is inside of us all.